PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : NFC PLAYOFFS : Rickey Jackson Changes His Tune

After clamoring before the game for a piece of Emmitt Smith’s hide--”I want Emmitt Smith, I want to give him some of what he got last time”--Rickey Jackson of the 49ers changed his tune after Sunday’s game.

“You could tell Emmitt was hurt, but, boy, he’s really tough,” Jackson said. “I gave him my best shots, and sometimes he would bounce right off and keep running.”

Before the game, Smith was suffering from a strained left hamstring. He left in the fourth period after straining his other hamstring. In between, he gained 74 yards on 20 carries and scored twice.

But in the first quarter, when the Cowboys needed him to establish a running game and stave off the emotional 49ers, he gained only four yards.

The 49ers will claim that Smith’s injury made no difference. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a 10-point difference, but game films will show that it did hurt the Cowboys.

“I knew today that I didn’t want to go outside and try to out-run somebody,” Smith said. “I tried not to use my left leg as much as my right leg. It may have been a case of overcompensating.”

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The most surprising quote of the NFL’s 75th anniversary season might have come from Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer, who criticized the league for allowing this game to played the way traditionally great games have been played for 75 yards. . . . in the mud.

He blamed the soggy field for kicker Chris Boniol’s miss of a 27-yard field-goal attempt, among other things.

“Seventeen yard line and we can’t make a field goal?” Switzer asked. “Because of the field conditions. That’s a disgrace to play a championship football game on a field like that. Why didn’t the league do something about that? Make sure everybody has an equal opportunity for everyone to be able to see the best game possible.”

He added, “That was ridiculous.”

The 49ers have a different phrase for it.

“Home-field advantage,” said tackle Harris Barton, smiling. “That’s why we worked so hard to win that first game against them this year. We saw on the films of last year’s championship game where they are really helped by the Astroturf and the home fans. We needed to get them off of there.”

John Taylor, 49ers receiver, agreed.

“All week the Cowboys were saying that the first game was meaningless,” he said. “Well, that was a lie. Because it meant we got to play this game here.”

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Perhaps nobody had more reason to celebrate the victory than linebacker Jackson, who earned an $838,000 bonus for helping his team make it to the Super Bowl.

“That doesn’t mean anything compared to the ring,” Jackson said. “Even winning this game . . . I knew we would get to the Super Bowl. That’s no big thing. It’s winning it that’s important.”

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Who would have figured the 49ers could defeat the Cowboys twice this season if:

--Steve Young passed for less than 200 yards in each game (183, 155).

--Young rushed for more touchdowns in the two games-- two--than all 49er running backs combined.

--Jerry Rice and Ted Popson each caught the same number of passes in the championship game--two.

--The 49er defense allowed 859 total yards in the two games.

Is there any statistic that shows how they did manage to win?

Just one.

In the two games, the flustered Cowboys combined for eight turnovers. The 49ers committed one.