Cowboys Find Solid Footing

The biggest football game of the year to date, reduced to a one-sided soccer match much to the chagrin of Green Bay, put Dallas a leg up on the Packers and 49ers with the tie-breaking home-field advantage in the playoffs, and now all the Cowboys have to do is catch the Washington Redskins.

In a hyped up replay of last year’s NFC championship game and featuring many of the NFL’s top superstars, diminutive Chris Boniol emerged as the giant difference, tying an NFL record with seven field goals in lifting the Cowboys to a 21-6 victory before 65,032 in Texas Stadium.

The Packers (8-3), losers of seven straight in Texas Stadium and eight overall to the Cowboys (7-4), reacted in anger to a Dallas timeout with 24 seconds remaining to give Boniol, who had already connected from 45, 37, 42, 45, 35 and 39 yards, the opportunity to match the mark set by St. Louis’ Jim Bakken and Denver’s Rich Karlis.

“I guess they didn’t want him to get the record,” said Tony Casillas, Dallas defensive lineman. “The way [the Packers reacted] that’s really bogus.”

While Boniol and the Cowboys walked off the field, celebrating his successful 28-yarder, the Packers followed them to the Dallas sideline led by an agitated Reggie White.

While the officials moved in to break up a potential brawl, White returned to the Packer sideline, removed his helmet and began gesturing angrily to the Cowboy crowd.

“It doesn’t matter, they did it,” White said later after a cool-down period in the locker room. “If we weren’t in that position, they wouldn’t have done it.”

Dallas cornerback Deion Sanders laughed. “Do you think if Reggie White was going for his eighth sack he’d just pull up? If LeRoy Butler was going for his sixth interception, do you think he’d just knock it down? I applaud [Coach Barry] Switzer’s decision. That’s something that will last a lifetime.”

The game was all but over and the Cowboys had won. Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman had knelt, and the Cowboys appeared as if they were going to run out the clock, but Switzer was advised by team officials that Boniol could set a record. He didn’t learn until after the game that Boniol was tying the mark.

“We could have run out the clock,” said Dallas linebacker Broderick Thomas, “but our head coach decided differently.”

On the ensuing kickoff, the brawl broke out, penalty flags flew and a pair of Cowboys and one Packer were ejected. Order was restored, and the final 13 seconds were played.

“I wouldn’t deny my son, your son or anybody’s son a chance to go for an NFL record,” said a defiant Switzer. “He damn sure deserved it tonight because he won the game with his foot. The Packers didn’t know about the record; nobody knew why we were doing it.”

Green Bay Coach Mike Holmgren said of Switzer, “That’s his decision,” and then added, “I want to play them again.”

Switzer, who passed on the chance to run up the score on Miami and former Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson earlier this season, remained undeterred. “You can’t have sympathy for anybody in this league. We’ll be ready to play too, if we meet again.”

Green Bay defensive end Sean Jones said, “How Barry Switzer chooses to coach is his choice. Dallas is not the be all and end all in football. The object is to get into the playoffs. We want to get Dallas, or whoever we play in the playoffs, in Lambeau Field. There are still five more games to play.”

Boniol, who battled flu earlier in the week, said he was rooting for the chance to go back on the field, but when the fights broke out, he said, “I just wanted to get out of the way, get to the sideline and the locker room.”

The last 24 seconds provided the only drama to an otherwise uneventful matchup that had promised so much more from two of the better teams in the game.

“It’s one game on our schedule,” Holmgren said in trying to downplay the loss, although in truth this was a game Green Bay had pointed toward since losing last year’s title match, 38-27.

“The fact that we haven’t won here just makes it an interesting story,” Holmgren said.

The anemic Packer attack, obviously stifled by the injuries to starting wide receivers Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman and tight end Mark Chmura, managed only 254 yards, including 164 net yards passing.

“We pretty much dominated the game,” Casillas said.

The Packers averted the first shutout in the Favre-Holmgren era with Favre throwing a three-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mayes with 1:53 remaining and most Dallas fans already on their way to the parking lot.

“There was so much hype about Favre and the Packer offense that we wanted to prove that we could go out and stop anybody,” Dallas defensive back Kevin Smith said.

The Cowboys, who began the season without wide receiver Michael Irvin (drug suspension) and tight end Jay Novacek (back injury) and with a Monday night loss to the Chicago Bears, have climbed back from a 1-3 start to move within a game of first-place Washington with two games remaining against the Redskins.

If they earn a fifth-consecutive NFC East Division title, and finish the season tied with Green Bay and/or San Francisco, they begin the quest for a fourth Super Bowl in the past five years in Texas Stadium.

“If we can maintain this momentum,” Thomas said, “there’s no telling what we can do.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Getting Their Kicks

Most field goals made in an NFL game:

SEVEN

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Jim Bakken St. Louis vs. Pittsburgh Sept. 24, 1967 *Rich Karlis Minnesota vs. L.A. Rams Nov. 5, 1989 *Chris Boniol Dallas vs. Green Bay Nov. 18, 1996 SIX *Gino Cappelletti Boston vs. Denver Oct. 4, 1964 Garo Yepremian Detroit vs. Minnesota Nov. 13, 1966 Jim Turner N.Y. Jets vs. Buffalo Nov. 3, 1968 Tom Dempsey Philadelphia vs. Houston Nov. 12, 1972 Bobby Howfield N.Y. Jets vs. New Orleans Dec. 3, 1972 Jim Bakken St. Louis vs. Atlanta Dec. 9, 1973 *Joe Danelo N.Y. Giants vs. Seattle Oct. 18, 1981 *Ray Wersching San Fran. vs. New Orleans Oct. 16, 1983 *Gary Anderson Pittsburgh vs. Denver Oct. 23, 1988 *John Carney San Diego vs. Seattle Sept. 5, 1993 *John Carney San Diego vs. Houston Sept. 19, 1993 *Doug Pelfrey Cincinnati vs. Seattle Nov. 6, 1994 (overtime) *x-Norm Johnson Atlanta vs. New Orleans Nov. 13, 1994 Steve Christie Buffalo at N.Y. Jets Oct. 20, 1996

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* without a miss