Linebacker Ed McDaniel will lead Minnesota's effort to contain Emmitt Smith.

"You've got some teams ranked higher than us, and they're not even in the playoffs. Where are they? I think they'll be watching us this weekend," McDaniel said.

And McDaniel, the Vikings' leading tackler, plans on playing despite a sprained right knee when the Dallas Cowboys visit the Metrodome on Sunday in the first round of the NFL playoffs.

McDaniel, who had reconstructive surgery on the same knee last offseason, but still managed 164 tackles, sat out the second half of the Vikings' 24-17 victory over Detroit last Sunday.

"It wasn't that serious, but ... I didn't want to go out there and really mess it up more than it is," McDaniel said.

Vikings trainer Chuck Barta said an MRI revealed only a mildly sprained ligament, and that there was no damage to the middle linebacker's surgically repaired anterior cruciate ligament.

"It's basically just stretched, a first-degree sprain," Barta said.

McDaniel, who has had both knees reconstructed, might have avoided the injury with a knee brace, something he refuses to wear.

"I figure, you wear a brace, sometimes you rely on the brace, and that takes away how you go out there and play," McDaniel said.

McDaniel was injured in the second quarter when a player fell into his right leg, buckling it at the knee. But having been through two major knee injuries, he knew this one wasn't that serious.

Still, he didn't mind sitting out the second half.

"Win, lose or draw, we were still going to be in the playoffs," McDaniel said. "And the defense was playing well."

The Vikings (10-6) enter Sunday's wild-card game against the Cowboys (8-8) with a remarkably healthy team.

They did lose special teams ace John Henry Mills to a torn triceps Sunday. Robert Smith, who surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the third consecutive season, is still fighting the flu that had him vomiting on the field.

The Vikings breathed a huge sigh of relief when they learned McDaniel's injury wasn't like the last one, when he needed an operation and six months of rehabilitation.

They'll need him Sunday to help contain the rejuvenated Emmitt Smith, who burned the Vikings for 140 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries in the first half of a Nov. 8 game before leaving with a broken hand.

Vikings defensive coordinator Foge Fazio said Smith is every bit the big-time back he was when the Cowboys owned the league in the early 1990s.