Davis may be the key to Carolina gaining revenge against Dallas

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Stephen Davis sat down at his locker, unaware Steve Spurrier had just resigned as coach of the Washington Redskins.

When told, he didn't believe it. He checked his cell phone: Eight messages.

A sly smile crept across his face for a second. Then someone asked if one of those messages was the Redskins begging him to come back.

"I've got a job," he snapped with a steely stare.

Davis' job tonight will be to help the Carolina Panthers (11-5) beat the Dallas Cowboys (10-6) in the first round of the NFL playoffs.

In one of the best offseason acquisitions of the year, the Panthers snapped Davis up after Washington let him go because he didn't fit into Spurrier's scheme. The release left him bitter -- he'd spent seven seasons with the Redskins, went to the Pro Bowl three times.

Although he denied any hurt feelings all season, the way he bowled over blockers and churned out yards said otherwise. He immediately rebuilt the Panthers' offense, rushing for 100 or more yards in his first four games, and ended with a career-best 1,444 yards and another invitation to the Pro Bowl.

Yet there's more to prove.

Davis has never had much success against the Cowboys, and this year was no different.

Dallas was the only team to slow a healthy Davis this season, stacking the line and holding him to 59 yards on 26 carries. It forced the game into quarterback Jake Delhomme's hands, and he couldn't produce as Dallas won 24-20.

"We were able to make them one-dimensional," linebacker Al Singleton said. "By getting on him early, it was a big boost for us."

The Cowboys have a history of stopping Davis: In 11 games against Dallas, Davis has just one 100-yard game, and his teams have lost nine straight.

But Davis downplays past failures, particularly the November loss that started a three-game losing streak for Carolina.

"We didn't execute," he said. "That's all."

So how do the Panthers bounce back against the No. 1 defense in the league? A team that held them to 244 yards in the first meeting?

"Just play as a team," Davis said. "Everybody do their job."

That will start with Davis, who is healthy for the first time in weeks. Bothered by a nagging ankle injury at times during the season, the Panthers held him out of their Dec. 21 game against Detroit even though Davis begged coach John Fox to let him play.

Then they used him sparingly in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants, allowing him to play just long enough through the first half to set his career rushing mark.

Although he hated watching from the sidelines the past two weeks, he's glad Fox held firm and refused to let him play.

"It worked out pretty good, actually, because I got my legs back under me," Davis said.

Now the Cowboys, who designed the only real blueprint this season on how to slow Davis, will have to duplicate their effort. Allowing Davis to get started could end the turnaround from three-straight 5-11 seasons.

"You've got to swarm him, you got to get a lot of hats on him," defensive tackle La'Roi Glover said. "Up front, we've got to win the line of scrimmage. That's where the game is going to be won or lost, in that 3-inch area. Whoever wins that right there will probably win the game."

The Cowboys also had a solid offensive plan in their first meeting with Carolina, when quarterback Quincy Carter slowly picked apart the Panthers' defense with short passes, passing for 254 yards and two TDs.

Carter now has to step up in his first postseason game. Of the 12 playoff starters, Carter is the only one with more interceptions (21) than touchdowns (17).

But he's got the confidence of two wins over Carolina.

"We know they've got a tough team and a lot of good players," Carter said. "That's why it's important for us to have already beaten them this year. We can do it. So we have to take that with us, knowing we can win."