ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701060138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C.
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Carolina Panthers put an exclamation point on the NFL's changing of the guard Sunday.
They beat Dallas 26-17, 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 at Ericsson Stadium.
``You come in here, you're going to 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, the quest for a record fourth Super Bowl in five years ended the way it began - without Michael Irvin.
The wide receiver, 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. They also lost Deion Sanders late in the game with a head injury when he was tackled on a reverse.
The Panthers, of course, believe they would have won even without those injuries.
``That's not arrogance,'' Terrell said. ``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 seeking the AFC title. The Packers are 9-0 at Lambeau Field, and the forecast is for cold weather - just 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 on 26 carries.
But just as important - if not more so - was a defense led by venerable Sam Mills that intercepted three Troy Aikman passes and three times held Dallas to a field goal after the Cowboys moved inside the Carolina 5-yard line.
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 13 points in the second half in eight games at Ericsson Stadium during the regular season, and they held the Cowboys to 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.
``Their guys are great competitors and champions,'' Switzer said.
``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.
That 25-yard run was typical - it simply led to another short field goal by Chris Boniol, part of a trend that showed early.
After Irvin was hurt on a 22-yard reception when he was hit by linebacker Lamar Lathon, the Cowboys drove to a first down at the Carolina 3.
But as has happened so often this season, they couldn't get the ball in the end zone. Mills stopped Smith on third down, and the Cowboys had to settle for Boniol's 22-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
``We're just not as good a team without Michael on the field,'' said Aikman, who completed 18 of 36 passes for 165 yards.
Carolina scored on its next two possessions, Collins throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Walls to complete a 68-yard, six-play drive, then capping a 42-yard, 11-play drive with 9-yard pass to Green. On the first series of the second half, Dallas reached the 5, but Mills stopped Smith on second down when he appeared to have a hole, and Dallas settled again for a field goal by Boniol, this one from 21 yards.
Carolina retaliated with Kasay's 40-yard field goal, and Kasay added another 40-yarder three minutes into the fourth quarter.
That left it up to the defense.
Dallas had one other shot at a touchdown, reaching the Carolina 2 with a little less than six minutes left, but Eric Bjornson couldn't hold Aikman's pass in the end zone, and the Cowboys had to turn to Boniol again, making the score 23-17.
Then Rohn Stark dropped a 39-yard punt dead on the Dallas 2 with 3:44 remaining. A pass-interference call on Tyrone Poole got the Cowboys to the 32, and a holding call on Poole put it at the 37.
But Terrell sealed the game when he leaped in front of Kevin Williams and returned the interception 49 yards to the Dallas 19. Kasay added a field goal from 32 yards with 1:48 left.
Dallas' only touchdown came on a 2-yard pass from Aikman to Daryl Johnston at the end of a 74-yard second-period drive that made it 14-9. The Cowboys tried a two-point conversion and failed, but got the two points anyway when Stark fell on a snap over his head in the end zone, making it 14-11.
Chad Cota's 49-yard return of an interception set up Kasay's 24-yard field goal that made it 17-11 at halftime.
The second half, of course, belonged to the Panthers.
NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Carolina linebacker Sam Mills (front) is embraced byby CNBteammate Matt Elliott after the 37-year-old Panther intercepted a
pass Sunday in the final moments of Carolina's 26-17 victory over
Dallas. KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL