The talent is there to rule again in this weakest of divisions, but two straight late-season collapses make you wonder: Can this team of aging stars hold up?

The Cowboys added a Rocket to their offense in hopes of opening up the field for Irvin (88) to operate.   V.J. Lovero

Last year the Cowboys' new coach, Chan Gailey, did what he was hired to do. He erased the memory of Barry Switzer's disastrous final season and won the NFC East, sweeping the division 8-0. But that's not the lingering memory of 1998.

The season started on a grim note when quarterback Troy Aikman broke his collarbone in Week 2. By the time he returned, his team was 4-3. Then Dallas went on a tear, winning its next four. But bad things started happening. Cornerback Deion Sanders, trying to fight through a severely jammed big toe, instead made it worse and missed the last five regular-season games. The other corner, Kevin Smith, was hurt in Game 12 against the Vikings, and the Cowboys had to line up against the Minnesota point machine with journeymen Charlie Williams and Kevin Mathis at the corners. Also missing in action were right guard Everett McIver and tight end David LaFleur and wideout Ernie Mills, who was supposed to take some of the pressure off Michael Irvin.

Dallas, playing passionless, uninspired football, lost to the Saints and the Chiefs and beat the hopeless Eagles by four, which clinched the division. In the playoffs Dallas put up another lackluster performance against the Cardinals and lost by 13.

The question now: Can you lay the whole sorry finish on injuries, or is the malaise much deeper, maybe a terminal case of late-seasonitis, remembering that the Cowboys lost their last five in '97? "I honestly don't know," Aikman said early in August. "I think injuries were a part of it, but was that the entire reason? Every team I've been on goes through a period when the offense is struggling. Last year it came at the end of the year. Injuries threw us off our rhythm, and we never regained it.

"Before Chan got here, the team had to overcome a lot, like breakdowns within the organization. That made it tougher. Now the emphasis is on football, top to bottom. There's a good group of people they brought in this year, through free agency and the draft. Let's face it, we haven't done a good job of that for the last four or five years."

What do the 1999 Cowboys have in their favor? Youth and speed, to go with their four aging potential Hall of Famers, Aikman, Irvin, Sanders and Emmitt Smith. In the first preseason game defensive coordinator Dave Campo revealed a new scheme, in which his two swift rookie ends, first-round pick Ebenezer Ekuban and fourth-rounder Peppi Zellner, moved inside to the tackle position on long-yardage downs. It was effective. Randall Godfrey, an outside linebacker with 4.5 speed, is now in the middle, and his backup, third-round draft choice, Dat Nguyen, light at 230, shows terrific ball awareness and explosion and seems like an ideal nickel linebacker. The old Jimmy Johnson theory -- defensive speed can make up for lack of muscle -- is still in place.

There are questions, though. Can oft-injured Colts' import Quentin Coryatt bring some zip to Godfrey's old position, or is there simply too much mileage on him? Can former Panthers wideout Rocket Ismail be the long-range threat to give Irvin a little breathing room, or was his 69-catch season last year (33 more than his best previous total) an aberration?

Then there's the Deion and Leon show. No one knows when Sanders will return from the toe injury that required off-season surgery. Doesn't sound like much, but a damaged toe is a very bad thing for a cornerback, whose whole game is built on pushing off to make lightning cuts. "My gut feeling," Gailey says, "is that we'll have him most of the year."

"Look for Deion in Game 2, against Atlanta on Monday night," Cowboys p.r. man Rich Dalrymple says. "I almost bet on it."

"There's no pain, I'm just not ready," Sanders says. "When the Lord gives me a sign, I'll be ready." What does he mean to a defense? Probably more than any player in the NFL. With him at the right corner, one side of the field is taken care of, and Campo can work his zones and schemes in a much smaller area.

Defensive tackle Leon Lett was suspended indefinitely for violating the league's substance abuse policy -- his third such suspension. The rumor around the league is that he'll be sidelined for four games, which infuriates other teams in the division, who feel he's getting off lightly. Michael Myers will hold down the fort until Lett returns.

So there you have it. In the weakest division in the NFL the Cowboys have a decided edge in personnel, and they should win the NFC East again. But when things get bitter and nasty in December, who knows?

-- Paul Zimmerman

Fast Facts

1998 RECORD: 10-6 (1st in NFC East)
     NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 8/9/8; defense 12/22/18

1999 SCHEDULE STRENGTH (rank): 12
     Opponents' 1998 winning percentage: .516; Games against playoff teams: 8

Player to Watch

When Dallas scouting director Larry Lacewell was a coach at Tennessee, he tried to recruit Randall Godfrey out of high school but lost him to Georgia. Lacewell joined the Cowboys in 1992 and four years later saw to it that Dallas drafted Godfrey in the second round. Godfrey started the last six games in '96 and every game since at strongside linebacker. Now he has been shifted to the middle, where, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says, "he gives us the fastest middle linebacker we've ever had." The last Pro Bowl middle linebacker Dallas had was Bob Breunig in 1982. Godfrey could end a 16-year drought.

Other Info

1999 Team Schedule
Team Depth Chart