Carolina? New England? Yikes! Panthers Turn Cowboys Out

The Carolina Panthers put an exclamation point on the NFL’s changing of the guard.

They beat Dallas 26-17 Sunday, knocking the Super Bowl champions from the playoffs and joining their expansion brethren from Jacksonville in the conference championships.

The Cowboys, San Francisco, Denver and AFC champion Pittsburgh will have to be content to sit home and watch. If that’s shocking to the NFL, it isn’t to the Panthers, who are 9-0 in Ericsson Stadium.

“You come in here, you’re gonna lose,” said Pat Terrell, whose interception and 49-yard return set up John Kasay’s fourth field goal that sealed the outcome.

For the Cowboys, their quest for a record fourth Super Bowl in five years ended the way it began - without Michael Irvin.

Irvin, suspended for the season’s first five games after pleading no contest to cocaine possession, broke his right collarbone on the second offensive play and missed the rest of the game. The Cowboys also lost Deion Sanders, who suffered a head injury when he was tackled on a reverse late in the game.

The Panthers, of course, believe they would’ve won anyway.

“Everyone in this locker room believed that this is where we were going to be at the end of the season,” Terrell said. “That’s not arrogance. It’s just that we have a bunch of believers on this team.”

The believing will be harder next week when the Panthers take their 13-4 record to Green Bay, while Jacksonville goes to New England for the AFC title. The Packers are 9-0 at Lambeau Field, and the forecast is for cold weather the way the Packers like it.

But that’s a week away, and the Panthers thrived in Sunday’s 60-degree temperatures, even coming out of the locker room to take a victory lap of sorts, exchanging congratulations with their fans.

They thrived earlier, too.

In addition to Kasay’s four field goals, Kerry Collins threw touchdown passes to Wesley Walls and Willie Green, and Anthony Johnson ran for 104 yards in 26 carries.

But as important was a defense led by the venerable Sam Mills that intercepted Troy Aikman three times, and three times held Dallas to a field goal after the Cowboys moved inside the 5.

This game, which came after a week in which a 23-year-old woman accused Irvin and offensive tackle Erik Williams of sexual assault, was typical of Dallas’ season, which ended 11-7. The offense just couldn’t get a touchdown when it needed one, particularly without Irvin.

“The same old story we had all year long finally caught up with us,” said coach Barry Switzer, whose team twice won games without scoring a touchdown - 21-6 over Green Bay and 12-6 over New England.

“You’ve got to get the ball in the end zone. Simple as that.”

The game also was typical for Carolina at home. The Panthers gave up just 13 points in the second half in eight games at Ericsson Stadium all season, and they allowed the Cowboys two field goals in the second half Sunday.

“We have a physical, physical team,” linebacker Kevin Greene said. “We can run the ball, we can stop the run and we can pick off passes. This is a good team. You all decide whether you want to respect us or not.”

Well, the Cowboys respect the Panthers - or at least they said they do.

“I think they have a good chance to win,” said Emmitt Smith, who ran 22 times for 80 yards, 25 of them on one play.

Panthers 26, Cowboys 17

Dallas 3 8 3 3 - 17

Carolina 7 10 3 6 - 26

Dal-FG Boniol 22 Car-Walls 1 pass from Collins (Kasay kick) Car-Green 10 pass from Collins (Kasay kick) Dal-Johnston 2 pass from Aikman (pass failed) Dal-Safety, ball snapped out of end zone Car-FG Kasay 24 Dal-FG Boniol 21 Car-FG Kasay 40 Car-FG Kasay 40 Dal-FG Boniol 21 Car-FG Kasay 32 A-72,808.

Dal Car First downs 21 18 Rushes-yards 24-96 37-127 Passing 148 100 Punt Returns 0-0 2-17 Kickoff Returns 6-101 5-155 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 3-122 Comp-Att-Int 18-36-3 12-22-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-17 0-0 Punts 3-51.0 1-39.0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 6-61 5-38 Time of Possession 30:37 29:23

Individual statistics

RUSHINGDallas, E.Smith 22-80, Sanders 1-16, Aikman 1-0. Carolina, A.Johnson 26-104, Oliver 3-11, Ismail 1-7, Collins 6-5, Stark 1-0.

PASSINGDallas, Aikman 18-36-3-165. Carolina, Collins 12-22-1-100.

RECEIVINGDallas, K.Williams 6-89, Johnston 4-18, Martin 3-31, E.Smith 3-(minus 2), Irvin 1-22, Bjornson 1-7. Carolina, Green 5-53, Walls 3-25, A.Johnson 1-9, Carrier 1-7, Oliver 1-5, Griffith 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALSNone.