It’s Prime Time Again in Dallas

Super Bowl XXXIII’s combatants are now a combined 0-4, last year’s NFL final four a collective 1-7, but for one more week all is right again in the world of professional football because the ‘Boys are back.

Joining the Lions and Rams as the only undefeated teams in the NFC--and isn’t that how everyone had it pegged--the Cowboys are 2-0 for the first time since 1995 after drubbing Atlanta’s exhibition lineup, 24-7, Monday night before 63,663 in Texas Stadium.

“It’s been a long time since this team was 2-0,” Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman said. “After two weeks this league seems upside down. I don’t know if there is a real dominant team in the NFC, and probably not in the league in general, so we’re right in there.”

The Cowboys really aren’t that good, but they think they are. So America has its showboats once again.

Owner Jerry Jones will now be seen as often as Jerry Springer. Terry Bradshaw will sit down for a heart-to-heart with Michael Irvin, who will tear up, suggesting he has been misunderstood all these years. The next generation of Texas youth will be named Raghib.

Emmitt Smith moved past former Cowboy Tony Dorsett into fourth place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list, and will spend the rest of the season reminding everyone who had given up on him. And in two more weeks, ladies and gentlemen, Deion Sanders is expected to be back on the field, gold chains and all, waving a towel and then selling it to the highest bidder.

How did the NFL survive without them?

Chan Gailey, of course, is no bozo, which is why the Cowboys are nowhere near as entertaining as they were with Barry Switzer in command. Shoot, last season they won the NFC East title and posted a 10-6 record, but never recaptured their claim on America.

A 2-11 record against opponents outside the division since November 1997 will do that. An opening playoff-game loss to Arizona will also quell the chest-pumping.

But the country is starved for an old reliable, now that John Elway and the Broncos have retired. The Packers have one cheesy win over the Raiders, and the Vikings can’t score more than 17 points. The Jaguars lack pizazz and the Dolphins have a lineup of felons--just what you would expect from a guy who used to coach the Cowboys.

Oh, imagine the fun if Jimmy Johnson’s Dolphins make it to the Super Bowl against his former team, the Cowboys. Well, maybe.

” . . . I’m not saying we didn’t expect to go 2-0, but there have been some crazy things that have happened that people could not have predicted,” Aikman said.

Just check out the Broncos and the Falcons. The Falcons, last season’s feel-good story and the toast of the NFC, have been jilted by Lady Luck after a one-year courtship. Journeyman quarterback Chris Chandler, 18-4 with Atlanta when healthy, suffered a hamstring injury at the end of last week’s loss to the Vikings. This forced Coach Dan Reeves to start Tony Graziani, who set a personal best in his third NFL start by playing into the third quarter without getting benched.

Graziani lasted for 16 passes, completing seven for 90 yards with one interception against a defense that allowed 369 passing yards a week ago. With 1:05 remaining in the third quarter, Reeves had seen enough and called on Danny Kanell.

Atlanta’s plan from the start, of course, was to have Graziani hand the ball off to Jamal Anderson. But Anderson, Atlanta’s best offensive player, tried to put on the brakes on the artificial turf six minutes into the game and his knee buckled. The game was over, as Anderson would not return, but ABC had three more hours to kill.

The lopsided contest gave Smith, who scored two touchdowns, the chance to pad his stats with 29 carries for 108 yards, and sprain his ankle with the game already decided well into the fourth quarter. It also allowed him to take aim on Eric Dickerson, third on the NFL’s all-time rushing list at 13,259 yards--476 yards ahead of Smith.

“The same people who will be praising Emmitt tonight are the ones who wrote him off two years ago,” Aikman said.

Now that’s the feisty Cowboys of old.

Smith not only ran hard, but impressively behind a makeshift offensive line. The Cowboys lost tackle Erik Williams in pregame warmups with a quadriceps pull, then early on lost guard Everett McIver with a sore hamstring.

Fortunately they were playing the banged-up Falcons.

Dallas has an open date next week, and when asked what the team might work on, Aikman was quick with the smart-aleck retort--a Cowboy staple in their ‘90s prime.

“Be a little more accommodating to the press,” Aikman said.

Yes the ‘Boys have that glint and strut once again.