The Nfl

			Games Missed
Dallas	'92-93	Aikman, Smith, Irvin, Harper, Novacek, Tuinei, E. Williams, Haley, Norton, L. Brown	3
S.F.	'88-89	Montana, Craig, Rathman, Rice, Barton, Wallace, M. Carter, Haley, Fagan, Lott	21
Pitt.	'78-79	Bradshaw, Harris, Swann, Webster, Greene, Greenwood, Lambert, Ham, Shell, Blount	12
Pitt.	'74-75	Bradshaw, Harris, Kolb, Greene, Greenwood, Holmes, Lambert, A. Russell, Ham, Blount	6
Miami	'72-73	Griese, Csonka, Morris, Warfield, Langer, Little, Stanfill, Buoniconti, Anderson, Scott	15
G.B.	'66-67	Starr, Dowler, Kramer, Gregg, Jordan, W. Davis, Caffey, Nitschke, Adderley, Wood	5

WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S

In his first game as a Cowboy, quarterback Bernie Kosar led Dallas to a 20-15 win over Phoenix at Texas Stadium, and afterward the first guy he wanted to see was Jimmy Johnson. "Coach," he said, "thanks for showing so much confidence in me."

For the Cowboys, it's a wonderful life. On the previous Sunday, Troy Aikman had suffered a hamstring injury that would sideline him for at least two weeks. The very next morning, Kosar, the icon of Cleveland, was cut (page 42). On Tuesday night, undeterred by his salary level and his mediocre performances of late, Dallas came to terms with Kosar, and he signed his contract on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon Kosar practiced with the team. On Sunday, with the Cowboys leading 3-0, he replaced Jason Garrett at quarterback in the first quarter and proceeded to lead the Cowboys on two consecutive touchdown drives—65 yards on nine plays and 86 yards on six plays. In the fourth quarter he engineered a short drive that ended with an Eddie Murray field goal.

Afterward Johnson was ebullient. Rarely had his friends seen him so happy. He sat with offensive coordinator Norv Turner, polishing off his customary beer on the rocks, and talked about beating the odds. "Here's what people have said to us over the years," Johnson said. "You can't trade Herschel Walker; he's a great player. You can't train in Austin; it's too hot. You can't win a Super Bowl that quick; it takes time. You can't sign Bernie Kosar and play him right away; he'll never learn the system in time."

Indeed, giving Kosar a crash course on the Dallas offense seemed to be a task almost as daunting as going from 1-15 to the Super Bowl in four years. But Dallas owner Jerry Jones wanted Kosar, as did Johnson, who had coached Kosar for a year (1984) at the University of Miami, and they wanted him to contribute. Fast. And, as we have seen, what Jimmy and Jerry want, they get.

So, how quickly did Kosar learn his lessons? For the answer, consider one play: Kosar entered the game at the beginning of a Cowboy series with slightly more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Upstairs in the coaches' booth Turner reviewed his play sheet and decided to call an intermediate-route, play-action pass to wide receiver Michael Irvin. When he found the play he wanted, Turner said "28" into his headset to tight end coach Robert Ford, who was on the sideline. Ford hand-signaled a "2" and then an "8" to Kosar on the field. Kosar looked at the tiny print on his plastic-coated wristband and found the play. "O.K.," he said in the huddle, reading his wrist. "Slot Zip Fan Pass 97 Zip."

The play required Kosar to take the snap, wheel to his left, fake a handoff to Emmitt Smith, fade back seven steps, look at Irvin running his 15-yard out pattern, then at fullback Daryl Johnston sneaking out just beyond the line of scrimmage, and then look back in the other direction at Irvin.

The Cowboys had not practiced this exact play with Kosar. Twice during the week they had run through a similar one—Kosar wheeling to his right and faking to Smith before passing. On Sunday, however, Kosar worked number 28 as though he had been running it for months. The Cardinals bit on the fake to Smith and on Kosar's glance at Johnston, and Kosar gunned a fastball to Irvin, who had cornerback Robert Massey draped all over him, for a 14-yard gain.

The Cowboys programmed 67 of those plays into Kosar's brainy head last week. He had to know who his primary, secondary and tertiary receivers were on every passing play and how many yards each receiver was running on each play. He had to learn a new numbering system for running and passing plays. "I'm a fan just like anybody, and I loved working with Bernie this week," said Turner. "This was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. How often do you pick up a championship quarterback in mid-week and get him ready to play the next game?"

There was also improvisation to go with the memorization. During the week Turner and Kosar had discussed what might work on goal line passes from a double-tight-end formation, and they chose a pass that was designed to go to substitute tight end Joey Mickey. When the Cowboys called the play late in the first half, Mickey wasn't open, so the tight end on the other side, Jay Novacek, seeing Kosar Hushed from the pocket, ran all the way across the end zone to the right corner. Just before getting leveled by an onrushing Cardinal, Kosar drilled a one-yard touchdown strike to Novacek.