Charlotte, N.C. ? Long after Bill Parcells headed to the locker room for the final time this season, the Carolina Panthers returned to the field and ran a slow victory lap around Ericsson Stadium.

The Panthers ended the Parcells-led turnaround in Dallas by picking apart the Cowboys’ top-ranked defense in a 29-10 victory in the first round of the NFL playoffs Saturday night.

The Panthers celebrated by leaping into the stands after big plays, embracing towel-waving fans, then taking their slow lap around the stadium to mark their own turnaround. The team was 1-15 just two years ago.

“I don’t have any idea whose idea that lap was,” quarterback Jake Delhomme said. “I just know you have to enjoy these times, because you don’t know when they’ll happen again.”

Delhomme threw for 273 yards and a touchdown, Stephen Davis ran for 104 yards and John Kasay, the last original Panther and the only one who played a role in Carolina’s lone previous playoff victory — a 26-17 win over Dallas in 1997 — tied an NFL postseason record with five field goals.

It wasn’t the way the Cowboys thought it would go.

“This is abrupt and it doesn’t feel good,” owner Jerry Jones said. “I didn’t want this to end. I just wanted this team to keep playing, keep taking the field.”

After three straight 5-11 seasons, Jones lured Parcells out of retirement to lead the Dallas rebuilding effort. This was supposed to be a two-year project, but he took a huge first step by leading the Cowboys into the playoffs in Year One.

Only there was no playoff glory. Instead, he suffered one of the worst playoff losses of his career.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “But I’ve got to be realistic.”

Although the Cowboys came into the game with the league’s top-ranked defense, the Panthers made them look ordinary.

The game was a complete reversal of the regular-season meeting, when the Cowboys stifled Davis and held him to 59 yards rushing. That forced the game into Delhomme’s hands, and he failed to deliver in Dallas’ 24-20 victory.

But this time Steve Smith had five catches for 135 yards and a 32-yard touchdown and Muhsin Muhammad had four catches for 103 yards. Coupled with Davis’ yards on the ground, it marked the first time all season three individual players passed the 100-yard mark against Dallas.

Meanwhile, Carolina’s defense dominated the rematch. Dallas had zero yards offense in the third quarter, when Delhomme threw his 32-yard touchdown pass to Smith for a 23-3 lead.

Against a Dallas team that was 0-5 this season when trailing by seven or more points, Parcells knew his team was in trouble.