A SUPER '70S REVIVAL\The Pack is slack so Cowboys are going back to the show\DALLAS 38, GREEEN BAY 27.

Byline: Frank Fitzpatrick Philadelphia Inquirer 

It's easy to overlook amid all the glitz and glory of the Dallas Cowboys, amid all the superstar-studded, spotlighted chaos that followed their third NFC championship in four years.

But beneath all the jive and jewelry, all that irritating millionaires' swagger, these Cowboys win for a very vanilla reason - one that plain-old Vince Lombardi would have applauded.

When they're in a hole, they open one. And Emmitt Smith rushes through.

Smith romped for 150 yards and three touchdowns, including two in the fourth period, as riled-up Dallas defeated the Green Bay Packers 38-27 Sunday in an NFC Championship Game that was as turbulent as the Cowboys' season that preceded it.

Dallas' victory vindicated coach Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson's little-regarded successor, who had been blamed for last year's title-game failure as well as much of the late-season controversy that nearly buried his '95 Cowboys.

"Nobody deserves this more than Barry Switzer," said Michael Irvin, who re-emerged from a month-long slump with seven catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. "The man had to take so much grief. But we never doubted him."

"We had to overcome more adversity than either of our other two Super Bowl teams," said Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman, referring to the negative noise generated by Erik Williams' off-field troubles, owner Jerry Jones' battles with the NFL, Switzer's fourth-and-one call in Philadelphia and much, much more.

Now Switzer's Cowboys will face the AFC-champion Pittsburgh Steelers - the same two teams that produced the last spectacular Super Bowl, after the 1978 season - for the league championship Jan. 28 in Tempe, Ariz.

"After all the (turmoil) that this team had to put up with this year, this is so very sweet," said Smith, who carried the ball 30 times. "As for my performance, if you get 30 opportunities, you ought to be able to make something happen."

The Packers, unable to run the ball in their first title-game appearance since 1967's Ice Bowl but finding cornerback Larry Brown a compliant target, managed to hang with the Cowboys on big plays.

An erratic Brett Favre, the league's MVP but not this game's, tossed a 73-yard first-period TD pass to Robert Brooks (over a badly burned Brown) that helped Green Bay overcome a 14-3 early deficit.

And there was a 54-yard third-period pass to Keith Jackson, the reborn ex-Eagle, which set up a third-period touchdown that put Green Bay briefly in front 27-24.

"They're a great team, but we're a pretty good one, too," said Packers tight end Mark Chmura. "This one really hurt because it was so close. We didn't get blown out this time."

Green Bay now has lost seven straight to the Cowboys, who have no difficulty peeling the Packers' defense. This time, though, the Packers were determined not to go down easily.

As a result, the game was filled with fights and unsportsmanlike penalties and was followed by the same kind of angry accusations the Eagles made about Dallas' Erik Williams.

Williams, the all-pro tackle from Philadelphia, blatantly chop-blocked Packers tackle John Jurkovic, forcing him from the game. Reggie White also complained, as William Fuller had a week ago, about Williams' illegal blows to the face.

Williams said the block on Jurkovic was legal. "It happens every Sunday," he said.

The incident set off a chain-reaction of late hits in the first half.

"Hey, this is football," Favre said. "These things are going to happen. That stuff wasn't the reason we lost this game."

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Photo (1--color) Emmitt Smith styles his way into the end zone for the Cowboys' final touchdown. Associated Press (2) The Cowboys' Deion Sanders gets by Green Bay's Reggie White on a reverse in the first quarter of the NFC Championship Game. Louis Deluca / Dallas Morning News