Arizona at Dallas


Breaking down the Cardinals and Cowboys


Focal Point: Aikman vs. Plummer


Cowboys fear Snake's bite


Drought is over in desert


Inside the Cardinals playbook


Deion now 'doubtful' for playoff opener with Cardinals


Knee injury won't keep Cards' Sanders down


'Boys wary of cardiac Cards


Playoffs no mirage in desert

IRVING, Texas -- New coach. New attitude. NFL parity.

	Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin says missing the playoffs in 1997 "was a shock to the system."

What a difference a year has made to the Dallas Cowboys, who have won three Super Bowls in the 1990s but hit bottom last season.

"A year ago we were hurting bad," said running back Emmitt Smith. "I don't ever want to hurt like that again."

Smith was referring to a 6-10 season in which the Cowboys lost their last five games. Owner Jerry Jones gave Barry Switzer a million-dollar goodbye present and hired Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Chan Gailey to revive down and out Dallas.

Gailey, aided by a weaker schedule and a weak NFC East, flipped the Cowboys around with a 10-6 season and their NFL-record 23rd playoff appearance.

"Last year was a shock to the system," wide receiver Michael Irvin said. "I couldn't believe last year -- it was so disappointing."

Dallas won all eight of its NFC East games, something no team had ever done. The other two victories came against Carolina and Seattle.

But the Cowboys lost to Denver, Oakland, Chicago, Minnesota, New Orleans and Kansas City, showing they weren't the NFL's most overpowering club. Dallas came within two points of being 12-4, losing 13-12 to both Oakland and Chicago.

"It doesn't get any better than this," Irvin said. "We're back now to being in a playoff game. Everybody in the country will be watching when we play Arizona on Saturday -- brothers, cousins, thousands of other people. This was our goal, and we did it."

Dallas plays host to the Cardinals on Saturday in an NFC wild-card game. The Cowboys beat the Cardinals twice in the regular season.

The Cowboys don't care that they might have been helped along by parity and a very weak division.

"The league is watered down," quarterback Troy Aikman said. "Because of the salary cap, teams no longer have real solid backups. Backups are making the minimum wage. The talent level is not as strong because the outstanding players get the money. A team has to pick and choose how it will spend the money."

Aikman said the Cowboys did a good job of putting all the pieces together and getting back into the playoffs.

"I was proud of the way we handled all the adversity," said Aikman, who missed five games with a broken collarbone. "We've been accustomed to making the playoffs. Last year was a tough season. It was a relief to all of us when it was over."

Aikman added: "Now we have something to play for again. Anybody in the playoffs has a chance to go all the way. Denver was a wild card last year and won the Super Bowl. There's no reason why we can't do it."