Thanks to Packers, Cowboys now can relax

IRVING — The Dallas Cowboys experienced one of their best Sundays of the season and did not even play. Thanks to Chicago’s 35-7 whipping of Green Bay on Sunday, the Cowboys will not have to leave Texas Stadium for a possible trip to Super Bowl XLII, having clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

And an MRI on Terrell Owens’ left ankle confirmed what the Cowboys’ medical staff thought Saturday night: He suffered a sprain and would need no surgery, just rest. With a first-round bye, Owens probably will not play until the Cowboys’ divisional round playoff game Jan. 12 or 13.

Even though the Packers can match the Cowboys’ 13 wins with a victory in the season finale, the Cowboys’ 37-27 win in the matchup last month would give them the tie-breaker edge.

The Bears’ win makes the Cowboys’ season finale at Washington almost moot. A win would establish a franchise record for victories in a season at 14, but coach Wade Phillips said in recent weeks he would rest injured players if his team had secured the home-field edge.

Owens might be the biggest beneficiary of Chicago’s win.

Unlikely to play against the Redskins, anyway, Owens will have three weeks of rest before playing. His absence would also allow the Cowboys to look at fellow receiver Terry Glenn against the Redskins. Glenn has not played this season because of two surgeries to his right knee.

In the past, Owens has proven to be a fast healer.

Last year he did not miss a game despite having surgery to repair a broken right hand. With Philadelphia in 2004, he returned in six weeks from a fractured right ankle to play in Super Bowl XXXIX, catching nine passes for 122 yards in the Eagles’ loss to New England.

A high-ankle sprain involves a partially torn sydesmotic ligament that connects the tibia and the fibula. In the past, Owens has used a personal hyperbaric chamber to help him recover. The chamber helps increase blood flow, which speeds up the natural healing process.

“I know it’s not to the extent of what my first injury was on the opposite leg,” Owens said before leaving Charlotte on crutches and in a walking boot. “I’ll be fine. It’s day-to-day.”

In addition to Owens, the Cowboys can be cautious with center Andre Gurode, who did not play Saturday because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, and even quarterback Tony Romo, who has a bruised right thumb.

Phillips could treat the final regular-season game in a preseason fashion, giving his starters and heavy contributors work in the first half and possibly into the third quarter before giving way to the backups.

But Sunday was more about reveling in home-field advantage. The last time the Cowboys held the top seed in the NFC was in 1995, when they finished the year 12-4, bear the Packers at Texas Stadium in the NFC Championship Game and went on to win Super Bowl XXX against Pittsburgh.

“What we have accomplished to this point is the result of a great effort by our players and coaches,” Phillips said in a prepared statement. “They’ve earned everything that they have achieved this year. We still have a lot of work to do. Securing the home field is important, but our guys understand that we have to continue to take care of business one week at a time. We look forward to the next game on Sunday and playing in front of our home fans in January.”

Considering the weather, playing a possible NFC title game at Texas Stadium was preferable to a possible Jan. 20 trip to Lambeau Field. Forty years ago, the Cowboys lost the NFL Championship to the Packers in the Ice Bowl.

In the Super Bowl era, the Cowboys are 4-1 in conference championships at Texas Stadium, losing only the 1973 title game to Minnesota, 27-10.

Since owner and general manager Jerry Jones purchased the team, the Cowboys are 2-0 at home in conference championship games.

“I am particularly pleased for the Dallas Cowboys fans who have given us so much support,” Jones said. “They are truly deserving of being able to share in the experience of bringing NFL playoff football back to Texas Stadium. We know that our home crowd will make a positive difference in the outcome of our games in January.”