Cowboys Left Smarting in a 42-23 Loss

They parted company Sunday, the Cowboys headed back to Dallas in a sling, their season a wreck with quarterback Troy Aikman now sidelined for at least a month with a fractured collarbone, and the Broncos advancing to heights not often traveled in the National Football League.

Denver (2-0), scoring the first five times it had the ball and posting more than 30 points for the 25th time in the 54 games coached by Mike Shanahan, blasted the Cowboys, 42-23, before 75,013 in Mile High Stadium.

“I guess you could say we’re on a pretty good roll,” said Denver running back Terrell Davis, who scored on runs of 63, 59 and three yards, while rushing for 191 yards.

In what began as a great Aikman-John Elway shootout with both teams combining to score 42 points in the first 20 minutes of play, unfortunately ended with understudy Jason Garrett piloting the Cowboys (1-1) and Bubby Brister directing the Broncos.

Elway, a smooth 16 for 22 for 268 yards with two touchdowns against a Cowboy pass defense ranked No. 2 in the NFL a year ago, strained a hamstring muscle in the fourth quarter and took himself out--too late to let Dallas rebound.

Elway, who has missed only 10 games in 16 years, suffered a similar injury two years ago but played the next four games before aggravating the hamstring, sitting out the following week, in part, because the team had clinched a playoff berth.

The Broncos have no reason to be seriously concerned if forced to play Brister anyway--they play the Raiders next.

The Cowboys, however, look like goners after going nowhere on offense after Aikman was hurt, and falling apart on defense, surrendering 515 yards.

“The injury to Troy is a big blow,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “But it’s the kind of thing that if you can overcome it, what a great story.”

The Cowboys, accused of living in a fairy-tale world a year ago, talking about the Super Bowl before finishing 6-10 and firing Barry Switzer, scored only three field goals after Aikman went down.

Aikman, placed in a new offense under former Bronco assistant coach Chan Gailey (1985-90) and operating out of the shotgun formation for the first time in his career, admittedly ran more than ever before in his career in Dallas’ season opener with five rushes for 43 yards.

But after running right for three yards and out of bounds in the second quarter against Denver, he pressed his luck, running on the very next down to the right side, but this time electing to stay in bounds.

“The smart thing would have been to run out of bounds,” Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski said. “Quarterbacks are trained not to take the hits; they are not running backs.

“The Cowboys and Troy Aikman are going to pay for this one.”

Aikman avoided Romanowski’s tackle attempt, and said he tried to pick up a few additional yards by cutting up the field. But as he took a dive forward on his shoulder, Denver 275-pound defensive end Marvin Washington and 270-pound defensive end Neil Smith simultaneously also landed on his body, driving him harder into the ground.

“I don’t think it was so much getting hit after I fell, but the awkwardness of hitting the ground as I did,” said Aikman, who completed five of 12 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown before leaving. “I thought I could get a few more yards.”

Dallas team physicians told Aikman that it will take four to eight weeks for the bones in his left shoulder to heal. Meanwhile, the Cowboys move on to New York for a Monday night game against the Giants with Garrett, a six-year veteran, making his first start since 1994--and only the third of his career.

“We’ve got to go on,” Gailey said. “They are not going to cancel the games because we have an injury.”

The Broncos look like a team headed for NFL history under Shanahan’s offensive direction. The 49ers scored the most points in NFL history in 1994--636--with Shanahan working as offensive coordinator. Shanahan’s offenses in San Francisco and Denver have ranked No. 1 in the NFL four of the past six seasons--finishing second and third when not leading the pack.

So far this season New England and Dallas have come out intent on stopping Davis, so Shanahan has responded by throwing the ball more. More than that, he threw a formation at the Cowboys that had them befuddled, lining up five receivers, including Davis.

“I just stand out there,” Davis said. “They never throw it to me.”

Maybe not, but Dallas couldn’t figure out who to cover.

“We couldn’t match up; we weren’t prepared for that,” Dallas safety Darren Woodson said.

And so the Broncos dominated, and after averaging 29.2 points a game last year, they have scored 69 in two games this year.

“I’ve said this before,” said Dallas cornerback Deion Sanders, “Mike Shanahan is an offensive genius. Every time we made adjustments, he just made more.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

UPSETS

* San Diego 13, Tennessee7

* New Orleans 19, Carolina 14

* Baltimore 24, New York Jets 10

* Cincinnati 34, Detroit(OT) 28

CLOSE CALLS

* Pittsburgh 17, Chicago 12

* Minnesota 38, St. Louis 31

SHOWDOWNS

* Jacksonville 21, Kansas City 16

* Green Bay 23, Tampa Bay 15

* Denver 42, Dallas 23

THE REST

* Miami 13, Buffalo 7

* Atlanta 17, Philadelphia 12

* Seattle 33, Arizona 14

* Oakland 20, New York Giants 17

* New England 29, Indianapolis 6