Cowboys vs. 49ers Playoff Rivalry Rekindled; Jayron Kearse, Jason Peters Injury Update

The Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers are meeting for the ninth time in a playoff rivalry that goes back more than 50 years. Will "America's Team'' be healthy?

FRISCO Has the legendary Cowboys-49ers rivalry been rekindled?

It sure feels that way with a trip to the NFC Championship Game on the line Sunday in Santa Clara.

The Dallas Cowboys punched their ticket to the Divisional Round by stomping Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14 on Monday night. ... with the only negative issues emerging from the game being the physical health of Jayron Kearse and Jason Peters. ...

Oh, and the mental health of kicker Brett Maher.

“It’s feeling all right,'' said safety Kearse, who reportedly has a sprained knee. "I’ll be good.''

Peters, though, has a hip injury that could cause him to miss time.

And of course Maher is trying to bounce back from his history-making four missed PATs in the blowout in Tampa.

Otherwise, though, while the 'Boys generally feel good ...

San Francisco dispatched of the Seattle Seahawks 41-23 last Saturday.

The two biggest blowouts of the Wild Card weekend set up the ninth playoff meeting for Cowboys and 49ers, going back to the early 1970s. Dallas-San Francisco is tied for the most frequent postseason matchup in NFL history, along with Packers-49ers and Rams-Cowboys.

The Cowboys won the initial three affairs from 1970-72, with the first two sending Dallas to the Super Bowl.

The 49ers didn’t get their revenge until nearly a decade later in 1981, again in the NFC Championship, as “The Catch” propelled Joe Montana and Co. to the Super Bowl and started San Francisco’s run as the team of the 1980s.

The iconic franchises again faced off in the NFC Championship from 1992-94. The Cowboys – coached by Jimmy Johnson and led by Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith – won the first two showdowns, with San Francisco claiming the third. Each winner also would go on to claim to the Super Bowl.

More than a quarter of a century passed until another playoff encounter, as the 49ers beat the Cowboys last season 23-17 in the Wild Card round.

The Cowboys are 5-3 all-time against San Francisco in the postseason, including 3-2 on the road.

That’s the history. And Sunday starts another chapter, with a bit of payback on the minds of the Cowboys.

“I know we’re all looking forward to it,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s just like anything. This is how it goes. This is how it’s supposed to be. Whether you manifest it or whatever your belief is, the league can humble you, but it can also put you in position to have opportunities to resolve some things.”

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said last season’s loss to San Francisco still “hurts” and will serve as “motivation throughout my career.” He added that Demarcus Lawrence reminded everyone in the leadership meeting last week that the Cowboys have a chance to right several wrongs.

They had never beaten Brady until now. San Francisco knocked them out of the playoffs last year. A possible NFC Championship would be against divisional rival – either the Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants.

“This thing is set up just for us, playing teams that have beat us, teams that we’re familiar with, so it’s important for us to capitalize on this preparation,” Prescott said.

The 49ers come in having reeled off 11 consecutive wins. That’s the history that the Cowboys are concerned with at the moment.

“Knowing the team that they have, the offense that they have, they’re on fire,” Prescott said. “The win streak, I guess the longest in the league right now. It’ll be important for us to start fast, get on top of them, I know the pass rushers they’ve got, but once again, I’m confident in the guys that I got, this group that we have and what we’re capable of doing.”

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You can follow Art Garcia on Twitter @ArtGarcia92.

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