Good Guys Wear Black? : Ultimate Game Becomes Ultimate Showdown Between Cocky Cowboys and Suddenly Beloved Steelers

Finally, America’s holy day has been given a matchup of Biblical proportions.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Dallas Cowboys today in Super Bowl XXX here, it should be more than an indecent event that has spent two weeks gorging itself on hype in preparation for a 3 1/2-hour belch.

It will be good versus evil.

The Steelers will show up at Sun Devil Stadium with a beloved owner named Rooney and a cherished history filled with Nolls, Bradshaws and Swanns.

The Cowboys will be climbing out of long, white cars and dodging lawyers.

It will be apple-cheeked Bill Cowher versus serpentine Barry Switzer.

The Steeler coach and Pittsburgh native wept when his team won the AFC championship, then spent this week talking about his neighborhood’s dreams.

The Cowboy coach missed some of that because he was in his owner’s rented bus, taking a nap. When he awoke, he sleepily announced to a worldwide media that he thought his team was in the Orange Bowl, and it was being played in Tucson.

It will be a Jonah-type lineup against one whale of a lineup.

Applaud yourself if you knew that Myron Bell will be starting for the Steelers. Hire someone to carry you through town on a bed of palms if you have any idea where he will be starting.

The Cowboys will counter with four potential Hall of Famers, all of whom deal with America on a first-name basis. Troy, Emmitt, Michael and Charles.

And how about that Cowboy cornerback of many colors?

“This is a player’s team, we know what our capabilities are,” Deion Sanders said. “If the curfew’s set for 1 o’clock, no problem. We’ll all be in by 3.”

The only problem with this analogy is that after 3:21 p.m. PST today, good barely has a prayer.

--The Cowboys went 12-4 during the regular season with five victories in seven games against playoff teams.

They beat football’s second-best team by 11 points in the NFC championship game, manhandling the Green Bay Packers and MVP quarterback Brett Favre.

--The Steelers went 11-5 during the regular season with a 2-2 record against playoff teams.

They are here only because, two weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts’ Aaron Bailey could not hold an AFC championship-winning, Hail Mary touchdown pass.

--The Cowboys are trying to win an unprecedented third world championship in four years, with the team’s nucleus remaining intact during that time.

While Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin can win their third Super Bowl ring, Charles Haley is hoping to become the first player in history to win five rings.

--The Steelers haven’t even been to a Super Bowl in 16 years.

Only three players on their roster have played in the big game--inactive cornerback Alvoid Mays, third-string lineman James Parrish and backup quarterback Mike Tomczak.

--The NFC has won the last 11 Super Bowls by a combined score of 428-181.

The Cowboys are an NFC team. The Steelers are not.

Having digested the above facts, the Cowboys strut.

“You ask me if you think we’re going to win, what do you want me to say . . . no?” Irvin asked. “Of course I think we will win.”

While the Steelers simmer.

“For some reason, you guys have labeled the Cowboys as . . . invincible,” Steeler Greg Lloyd said, referring to the media. “These guys have bullet-proof vests on and they can grow wings and fly.

“We’re not looking for image. We just line up and we play.”

True to their nature, the Steelers have chosen to wear their black shirts during the game, which means the Cowboys can wear their white shirts.

The Steelers could have put the Cowboys in their unlucky blue. But that would have meant wearing white and abandoning the tough-guy attitude that they feel offers them their best chance.

“There is a reason this game is called Super Bowl XXX,” Parrish said. “Because it will be decided by the guys wearing the pants marked XXX. This is a Super Bowl for the big and tough guys.”

The Cowboys are averaging 369 yards of offense per game . . . while the Steeler defense is giving up only 285 total yards.

The Steelers are averaging 359 yards in total offense . . . while the Cowboy defense is giving up 311 yards.

Heads will butt. Pushes will come to shoves.

Five questions will decide.

--Can the Steelers stop Aikman?

The Cowboy starter has become one of the best quarterbacks in postseason history, with a 9-1 record as a starter, with 20 touchdown passes and nine interceptions.

But he has sore knees, a bad back, and an elbow that will require off-season surgery.

The constantly blitzing Steelers, who recorded 42 sacks this year, feel if they can knock him around early, he will stay dizzy.

The Philadelphia Eagles and Packers thought the same thing in the playoffs. But Aikman made perfect audibles, precise reads, and was sacked only twice.

“We’re going to have to make him feel the heat,” Steeler linebacker Kevin Greene said. “It’s that simple.”

--Can the Cowboys stop Erric Pegram and Bam Morris?

Pegram and Morris are the running backs in the Steelers’ predominately passing offense. But the Steelers cannot win without them.

Pegram and Morris are the only way the Steelers can keep the already legendary Cowboy offense off the field for long stretches of time.

They are also the only way the Steelers can capitalize on a Cowboy weakness.

In the Cowboys’ four losses this year, their thin linebackers and pass-oriented defensive linemen allowed opponents 128 rushing yards per game.

In their 14 victories including the playoffs, they have given up 99 rushing yards.

The Steelers are averaging 116 yards rushing per game, which makes them think of two things: Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier.

“In order for us to be effective, we’re going to have to run the ball,” Morris said. “We have to play Steeler ball, the way we used to play.”

--Is Neil O’Donnell ready for all of this?

The Steeler quarterback, after throwing for a career-high 17 touchdowns with only seven interceptions during the season, has reverted to form in January.

He has thrown for only 467 yards combined in two playoff games, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He led the team on a final-minutes drive to defeat the Colts, but his completions were marked more by great catches.

He is 3-3 in the playoffs, with as many big-game chokes--in the AFC championship last year against San Diego Chargers--as successes.

Even with five wide receivers during some formations, he scares no one.

“I don’t think it’s going to present us with a problem,” Sanders said of the Steeler passing game.

--Can Joel Steed, Brentson Buckner and Ray Seals handle the five quickest fat guys in football?

“Weight ain’t the issue,” Cowboy guard Nate Newton said. “It’s all about power.”

With the lightest of the Cowboy offensive linemen being 314 pounds, it’s about something big.

This line is the reason Smith will make at least one 10-yard run in which he is untouched.

But the Steeler defensive line can be the reason that Smith doesn’t beat them. With all of them also weighing at least 300 pounds, it could get messy.

You will hear a lot today about the Cowboys trying to adjust to a 3-4 defensive scheme that they have not seen during this regular season. Forget about that.

The only thing that matters is the “3.”

“It will be big man on big man this game,” Seals said. “Three hundred pounds versus three hundred pounds.”

--Can the Steelers be quick and bold?

In the Cowboys’ four losses, they were outscored in the first half, 64-44.

They are not a comeback team.

Also in each of their four losses, they were stunned by a wrinkle--San Francisco 49er receiver Jerry Rice lining up in the slot, the Washington Redskins’ offensive line changing the blocking for Terry Allen.

They do not react well to gimmicks.

So the Steelers must have courage to take a chance on defense in hopes of forcing a quick turnover . . . while letting quarterback/receiver/running back Kordell Stewart run wild on offense.

A country can hope.

“I think everyone in America wants us to win,” Steeler tackle Justin Strzelcyk said.

But first things first.

The team of the ‘90s awaits.

And Myron Bell is a safety.