Emmitt Smith: 2 Amazing Back to Back Runs, 2 TD's

[dckid]

November 8th, 1999 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Emmitt scores on a 64 yard run. The Vikings return man fumbles the ensuing kickoff. Emmitt scores on a 24 yard run.

Unfortunately, Randy Moss was playing for the Vikings.

Remember that game like it just happened. Anyone who compares Zeke to Emmit is crazy. Zeke always get caught, and has no wiggle.
Zeke is very poor at getting pas the LOS and then reading the defense.

Guys remember the 1st SuperBowl, when Bob Trumpy & Enberg. I remember they made a comment on how good Emmit's vision was from reading the defense, breaking on jersey color.

 

[eromeopolk]

 

[Thomas82]

He made the second td run with the broken hand, so he could still go.
I think he still wanted to play.

That's what makes it so surprising that they didn't let him finish the game. I know he would have had another big game against Green Bay the following week and probably run away with the rushing title.

 

[Thomas82]

For sure. I believe he’s older than Zeke is now when he made that long run. He still had plenty of moves and speed. I don’t think Zeke will ever have a 60 yard run again. People can say what they want about Emmitt but his durability and consistency are what separates him from everyone else.

Emmitt was actually 30 when this game was played.

 

[john van brocklin]

That's what makes it so surprising that they didn't let him finish the game. I know he would have had another big game against Green Bay the following week and probably run away with the rushing title.

Yep, they held him out.
Emmitt wanted to get back out there from what I recall.

 

[Vomit]

He had about 140 at halftime and I thought he would break the record but he broke his hand on the 2nd to last run that scored a TD.

This was also the same week Walter Payton died.

Yes, I remember it well. Never see the likes of him again.

 

[Thomas82]

He had about 140 at halftime and I thought he would break the record but he broke his hand on the 2nd to last run that scored a TD.

This was also the same week Walter Payton died.

He had 140 with about 6 minutes left in the half. If I'm not mistaken, we had 1 more possession in the half after he left the game.

 

[Thomas82]

Yep, they held him out.
Emmitt wanted to get back out there from what I recall.

With the way he was running, we all wanted him to finish what he started. I would have loved to see what kind of a hot streak he might have went on in the weeks after that game.

 

[Thrill99]

I thought he broke his hand on the stiff arm on the 1st TD.

 

[Thomas82]

I thought he broke his hand on the stiff arm on the 1st TD.

He did.....his finger got caught in Kenny Wright's facemask.

 

[StarOfGlory]

Jason Garrett played in that game. His statline:
3 comp, 11 attempts for 4 yards, 1.7 QBR

 

[Thomas82]

I remember Troy getting a concussion that night too.

 

[the playmaker]

People talk QBs you rather have in big games. But as far as running backs go in big games, it’s Emmitt hands down.

"the hot shoulder"

 

[Thomas82]

Assuming that Emmitt finished the game and set a new single-game rushing record, I would like to think he would have had at least another 225 yards the next week against the Packers in the following week if he played. Chris Warren and Robert Chancey combined for 142 yards on 33 carries. That would be the only game the Cowboys won without Emmitt.

 

[Thomas82]

Emmitt was quicker than just about everybody. This is what allowed him the long runs without having world class speed. Although, Emmitt was much faster than people give him credit for. If you watch his highlight reels on youtube you will see him outrun a lot of DBs. It was only the Greens and Deions that were going to run him down from behind.

A good example of this is his 68-yard touchdown run in the 1992 Thanksgiving Game against the Giants:

The Cowboys ran what was called "Slant G", which was almost like a trap play. The blockers all did their jobs on this play. After taking the handoff, Emmitt took a short step toward the sideline to make it look like a sweep, then slanted straight for the hole. There were 4 Giants defenders in the area once he made it to the 2nd level, but only safety Mark Collins and cornerback Corey Raymond had a shot at him. In fact, they both had the angle on Emmitt and he just split them both and easily outran Collins, going 68 yards to the end zone untouched.