IRVING, Texas -- Displaying the intensity and efficiency of champions, the Dallas Cowboys fulfilled their end of the National Football Conference playoff bargain by easily beating the Green Bay Packers, 35-9, in front of 64,745 people at Texas Stadium on Sunday. Now comes the hard part.
The Cowboys now must play the more formidable San Francisco 49ers, who blasted the Chicago Bears 44-15 Saturday, in next Sunday's National Football Conference championship game at Candlestick Park. And the Cowboys might have to play without star running back Emmitt Smith, who reinjured his sore left hamstring late in the first quarter.
"I always feel good about my chances," said Smith, who has missed only one professional game because of injury during his five-year career. But that game was this year's regular season finale, which followed the Dec. 19 contest in which he pulled the hamstring.
"We'll go ahead and treat it as if I'm going to play," he said. "I'll prepare myself as if I'm going to play. Come game day, if it is feeling much better, I will play. I will go on the field one way or another.''
Despite Smith's injury, the Cowboys' Charles Haley said it is the team's "destiny" to win an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl. The rest of the team is equally confident, given the injuries, controversies and pressure they've dealt with all season.
"This is the one that really counts," Coach Barry Switzer said of the encounter with the 49ers. "This is our opportunity to give it our best shot, which we didn't do last time."
The 49ers beat the Cowboys, 21-14, Nov. 13 in Candlestick. The winner of Sunday's game advances to the Super Bowl against the American Football Conference champion -- either Pittsburgh or San Diego. But many fans view the Dallas-San Francisco encounter as the most exciting matchup.
"It's time to get it on"' said Cowboys guard Nate Newton, who finished Sunday's game with a sore calf, to go with an already sore toe on his right foot. "You can bet your (butt) that the 49ers were saying, 'Come on, Green Bay. Come on Green Bay.'"
But Green Bay was never in this game. The Packers, who lost here on Thanksgiving and in the divisional playoffs last season, trailed 14-3 after the first quarter and 28-9 at halftime.
Dallas tight end Jay Novacek set a team playoff record with 11 catches for 104 yards. Wide receiver Michael Irvin had six catches for 111 yards. Alvin Harper had two receptions -- one a 94-yard touchdown catch-and-run that set an National Football League playoff record.
"Troy, without question, played his best game since the Pittsburgh game" that opened the season, Switzer said.
"I would dispute that, but I felt pretty good," Aikman said.
The Packers got this far by beating Detroit, 16-12, in a wild-card game last week in which they held Lions running back Barry Sanders to minus-1 yard rushing. The Cowboys made it clear on the first series that Green Bay would not have the same success against them.
The Cowboys defense did its part as well. The Packers gained only 43 yards rushing in the first half. Edgar Bennett finished with just 34 yards on 11 carries. Packers quarterback Brett Favre did not have top receiver Sterling Sharpe, and could not produce a touchdown until the Cowboys already had three. For the day, Favre was 18 of 35 for 211 yards and one interception.
"We came in thinking this was a game we could win," Favre said. "We were emotionally high. That gave us confidence -- maybe too much."
49ers 44, Bears 15. Even though Chicago scored first, the outcome Saturday was never in doubt.
"It tells me we're playing into the postseason the way we finished the season," San Francisco quarterback Steve Young said. "We're playing our best ball. I didn't want to leave our best ball in December."
"Last year when we scored 44 points at this stage, we were a little surprised. This year we know we have a team that's peaking," he said, referring to last season's 44-3 divisional playoff win over the New York Giants.
After spotting the Bears a 3-0 lead, the 49ers reeled off 30 straight points in the first half to put the game away, and Chicago's improbable playoff run came to an end on Candlestick Park's soggy, shredded turf.
San Francisco (14-3) will be at home next Sunday against the Cowboys. "It doesn't really mean nothing if we don't go out and do something next week," said San Francisco linebacker Ken Norton Jr., one of six new starters on the remade defense.
Chicago, an upset winner at Minnesota in a wild-card game last week, finished 10-8 in Dave Wannstedt's second season as coach.
With Young passing effectively and also joining Ricky Watters and William Floyd on a power running game, the league's top-scoring team surpassed 30 points for the ninth time in the past 11 games, despite the wet conditions.
Young threw for 143 yards and a touchdown, completing 16 of 22 passes. He also ran five times for 32 yards, including a touchdown that set off a brawl. Floyd had scoring runs of one, two and four yards.
San Francisco took advantage of two interceptions against Steve Walsh and a botched fake punt during their scoring burst. The 49ers made it 37-3 in the third quarter, and Young and most of the other regulars were lifted with 5:48 left in the period.
Young and wide receiver Jerry Rice, along with Deion Sanders, Gary Plummer, Norton, and other defensive newcomers, had nothing left to do but prowl the sidelines and congratulate one another and await their next challenge.
Chicago, 0-3 in its playoff history against the 49ers, proved to be no match, despite forcing a turnover on San Francisco's first series. Brent Jones fumbled after catching a pass, and Alonzo Spellman recovered at San Francisco's 36, but Chicago had to settle for Kevin Butler's 36-yard field goal. From there, it was all San Francisco.
The Cowboys now must play the more formidable San Francisco 49ers, who blasted the Chicago Bears 44-15 Saturday, in next Sunday's National Football Conference championship game at Candlestick Park. And the Cowboys might have to play without star running back Emmitt Smith, who reinjured his sore left hamstring late in the first quarter.
"I always feel good about my chances," said Smith, who has missed only one professional game because of injury during his five-year career. But that game was this year's regular season finale, which followed the Dec. 19 contest in which he pulled the hamstring.
"We'll go ahead and treat it as if I'm going to play," he said. "I'll prepare myself as if I'm going to play. Come game day, if it is feeling much better, I will play. I will go on the field one way or another.''
Despite Smith's injury, the Cowboys' Charles Haley said it is the team's "destiny" to win an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl. The rest of the team is equally confident, given the injuries, controversies and pressure they've dealt with all season.
"This is the one that really counts," Coach Barry Switzer said of the encounter with the 49ers. "This is our opportunity to give it our best shot, which we didn't do last time."
The 49ers beat the Cowboys, 21-14, Nov. 13 in Candlestick. The winner of Sunday's game advances to the Super Bowl against the American Football Conference champion -- either Pittsburgh or San Diego. But many fans view the Dallas-San Francisco encounter as the most exciting matchup.
"It's time to get it on"' said Cowboys guard Nate Newton, who finished Sunday's game with a sore calf, to go with an already sore toe on his right foot. "You can bet your (butt) that the 49ers were saying, 'Come on, Green Bay. Come on Green Bay.'"
But Green Bay was never in this game. The Packers, who lost here on Thanksgiving and in the divisional playoffs last season, trailed 14-3 after the first quarter and 28-9 at halftime.
Dallas tight end Jay Novacek set a team playoff record with 11 catches for 104 yards. Wide receiver Michael Irvin had six catches for 111 yards. Alvin Harper had two receptions -- one a 94-yard touchdown catch-and-run that set an National Football League playoff record.
"Troy, without question, played his best game since the Pittsburgh game" that opened the season, Switzer said.
"I would dispute that, but I felt pretty good," Aikman said.
The Packers got this far by beating Detroit, 16-12, in a wild-card game last week in which they held Lions running back Barry Sanders to minus-1 yard rushing. The Cowboys made it clear on the first series that Green Bay would not have the same success against them.
The Cowboys defense did its part as well. The Packers gained only 43 yards rushing in the first half. Edgar Bennett finished with just 34 yards on 11 carries. Packers quarterback Brett Favre did not have top receiver Sterling Sharpe, and could not produce a touchdown until the Cowboys already had three. For the day, Favre was 18 of 35 for 211 yards and one interception.
"We came in thinking this was a game we could win," Favre said. "We were emotionally high. That gave us confidence -- maybe too much."
49ers 44, Bears 15. Even though Chicago scored first, the outcome Saturday was never in doubt.
"It tells me we're playing into the postseason the way we finished the season," San Francisco quarterback Steve Young said. "We're playing our best ball. I didn't want to leave our best ball in December."
"Last year when we scored 44 points at this stage, we were a little surprised. This year we know we have a team that's peaking," he said, referring to last season's 44-3 divisional playoff win over the New York Giants.
After spotting the Bears a 3-0 lead, the 49ers reeled off 30 straight points in the first half to put the game away, and Chicago's improbable playoff run came to an end on Candlestick Park's soggy, shredded turf.
San Francisco (14-3) will be at home next Sunday against the Cowboys. "It doesn't really mean nothing if we don't go out and do something next week," said San Francisco linebacker Ken Norton Jr., one of six new starters on the remade defense.
Chicago, an upset winner at Minnesota in a wild-card game last week, finished 10-8 in Dave Wannstedt's second season as coach.
With Young passing effectively and also joining Ricky Watters and William Floyd on a power running game, the league's top-scoring team surpassed 30 points for the ninth time in the past 11 games, despite the wet conditions.
Young threw for 143 yards and a touchdown, completing 16 of 22 passes. He also ran five times for 32 yards, including a touchdown that set off a brawl. Floyd had scoring runs of one, two and four yards.
San Francisco took advantage of two interceptions against Steve Walsh and a botched fake punt during their scoring burst. The 49ers made it 37-3 in the third quarter, and Young and most of the other regulars were lifted with 5:48 left in the period.
Young and wide receiver Jerry Rice, along with Deion Sanders, Gary Plummer, Norton, and other defensive newcomers, had nothing left to do but prowl the sidelines and congratulate one another and await their next challenge.
Chicago, 0-3 in its playoff history against the 49ers, proved to be no match, despite forcing a turnover on San Francisco's first series. Brent Jones fumbled after catching a pass, and Alonzo Spellman recovered at San Francisco's 36, but Chicago had to settle for Kevin Butler's 36-yard field goal. From there, it was all San Francisco.
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