THE Carolina Panthers crowned a weekend of play-off surprises with the biggest upset of all when they snuffed out the Super Bowl reign of the Dallas Cowboys, plagued by distractions off the field and a lack of offensive punch on it.
Formed only two years ago, the Panthers proved conclusively that they are no flukes by mauling the Cowboys 26-17 at Ericsson Stadium, a brand new facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. There will be much speculation as to whether the Cowboys were too distracted by the accusations against Michael Irvin - their loud-mouthed receiver - and Erik Williams for sexual assault.
But the Cowboys have been ripe for the picking all season, plagued by a regular failure to convert their touchdown opportunities. They began the year hesitantly, deprived of the services of Irvin for five games because of drug possession charges. They also ended the season without Irvin, who retired with a broken collarbone in the first quarter, mumbling "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" to Jerry Jones, the Cowboys' owner, who must be wondering at the ability of Barry Switzer, his coach, to control his rowdy Cowboys. Dallas have lost six players to drug suspensions in the last 14 months.
Even at full strength, the Cowboys would have had trouble coping with the Panthers, who have now won nine games on the trot at Ericsson Stadium. The Panthers lack marquee names like Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders and Emmitt Smith, but have done a remarkable job of assembling a strong team under Dom Capers, the coach, who has made a blitzing defence the basis of his team's success. The Panthers made people sit up when they clinched the Western division of the National Conference, beating the San Francisco 49ers twice in the process.
"We have a physical, physical team," said Kevin Greene, a Panther linebacker. "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."
On Sunday, the Panthers showed few big game jitters despite an early interception of Kerry Collins. The Panthers defence quickly showed its mettle by holding Dallas to a field goal, setting a pattern for the game. Collins made amends for his errant pass on the very next drive by tossing a one-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Wesley Walls after fooling the Dallas defence with a fake run play to cap a 68-yard, six-play drive.
Collins threw another touch-down in the first half, a perfect nine-yard pass to Willie Green, just beyond the reach of a defender. That made it 14-3 and put the Panthers on track to dethrone the Cowboys.
Dallas cut the lead to 14-10 at the half when Aikman found Daryl Johnston, who made a twisting catch for a two-yard TD. But that was the Cowboys' only touchdown for the day. The rest of Dallas's points came from the boot of Chris Boniol as the Cowboys failed to get touchdowns on three occasions when they were inside the Carolina five-yard line.
The first Dallas series in the second half was a distillation of the Cowboys' problems in the "red zone" all season long. Down 17-11, the Cowboys had just recovered a fumbled punt return and were sitting pretty on Carolina's 17. Dallas reached the five, but Smith ran into a brick wall in the form of the 37-year-old veteran Sam Mills on second down.
Mills was the star of the Carolina defence, stuffing Smith twice on key plays and bagging an interception in the last two minutes of the game.
"The Dallas Cowboys are America's Team, sure," said Lamar Lathon, a Panthers linebacker. "But we're the new kids on the block."
The Panthers join the other new, kids on the block, the Jacksonville Jaguars, for the conference finals. The Panthers will resume their familiar underdog role when they go to Lambeau Field to tackle the Green Bay Packers, favourites to win the Super Bowl, while the Jaguars will battle the New England Patriots.
