The Dallas Cowboys have walked a fine line between success and failure in the first month of the National Football League season.
Very fine. The team`s first four games have been decided by a total of 14 points. All four have been decided in the final two minutes.
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The Cowboys have come out of that stretch at 2-2. They aren`t alone. Three other teams in the National Football Conference East are walking the same tightrope.
Dallas, however, has left itself less room for error than the others.
”That`s the way we`re going to play for a while,” Cowboys coach Tom Landry said. ”Every game is going to be like that.”
Every game? Landry`s heart may not be able to take the strain.
– Game 1: After Steve Pelluer throws a goal-line interception to kill a drive late in the game, the Cowboys still have a chance to tie with 49 seconds left. But Luis Zendejas misses a 49-yard field goal.
Pittsburgh wins 24-21.
– Game 2: The Cowboys have the ball and a lead, but must convert a third and 1 with 1:39 left to retain possession. They do.
Dallas beats Phoenix 17-14.
– Game 3: Pelluer has thrown his second-goal line interception in three weeks, but the Cowboys still have a chance to win. That chance dies when Pelluer throws another interception with :42 remaining.
The New York Giants win 12-10.
– Game 4: The Cowboys score 10 points in the final 5:28 to come back. Still, Atlanta threatens, and Dallas doesn`t ice the victory until safety Bill Bates falls on the ball with one second left.
Dallas wins 26-20.
After tough losses to the Steelers and Giants, the players said they needed a close victory against the Falcons to get moving in the right direction.
”If we hadn`t won it, it would have been tough on us,” tailback Herschel Walker said. ”Very tough. If you don`t think you can win it when the clock is about to tick off, then you`ve got a long way to climb.
”We`ve had some tough breaks, but we finally had some breaks fall our way. If it happens again, everyone on the team will believe we can do it and just go out and play hard.
”I think we`re as good as we want to be. We`re better than we were last year. But there`s a lot of room for improvement, which is good.”
Walker also realizes the need to keep last Sunday`s victory in perspective.
”Not to take anything from Atlanta, but they`re in the same cellar with us,” Walker said. ”It`s not like they`re Super Bowl champs. I don`t think this is anything we need to go out and party over.”
There has been no talk of a party. The Cowboys feel with a ”fireman 37” here and a one less interception there, they could be 4-0.
But the Cowboys also know if it weren`t for a crucial interference call against Phoenix and a dropped touchdown pass by Atlanta`s Aubrey Matthews, they could be 0-4. The pendulum swings both ways.
”A couple of plays could have gone either way, but that`s how football is decided,” defensive tackle Kevin Brooks said. ”Look at Minnesota. A play on the goal line kept them out of the Super Bowl last year.
”Football`s a game of one or two plays. Everyone plays good games now. They might all come down to the last couple of minutes.”
They might. But a team finds it more difficult to gauge its strength when every game comes down to one or two plays.
Dallas is a perfect example. The Cowboys can be judged on a theoretical scale that slides from 0-4 to 4-0. It`s impossible to find a consensus.
That`s why some players view the Cowboys as a 2-2 team while others see them in a different light. Cornerback Everson Walls said Dallas is closer to being a 3-1 team than it is a .500 team.
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”The 2-2 record doesn`t really reflect where our team is,” Walls said.
”It doesn`t reflect the talent we have.”
Brooks agreed. He said the team has improved since its opening-day loss against Pittsburgh and ”can still go higher yet.” Landry said he doesn`t think the Cowboys will be in position to jell until midseason because of their inexperience.
A good team that`s just one or two breaks away from being better. That`s how most of the players and coaches view the Cowboys.
”I`m sure there are a lot of other teams in the same position,” Bates said.
True. And four of them play in the NFC East.
Washington, New York, Phoenix and Dallas are all tied for first place in the division at 2-2. Philadelphia is a not-so-distant 1-3.
The Cowboys` goal this season is to get back into the playoffs. The fact no team has been able to break away from the NFC East pack in the first month of the season appears to help Dallas in its effort to reach that goal.
”You wouldn`t predict us in it (NFC East race), because we`re still in a stage of developing right now,” Landry said. ”But you never know. Sometimes you catch fire.”