NFL Recap (Dallas-Arizona)
Posted: Sun November 15, 1998 at 9:57 p.m. EST
DALLAS 35, ARIZONA 28
TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Emmitt Smith and the Dallas Cowboys continued
their domination of the Arizona Cardinals and
took control of the NFC East, but Jake Plummer certainly
made them sweat.
Smith rushed for 118 yards and three scores, moving into third place
on the all-time touchdowns list with 127, as the Cowboys beat the
Cardinals, 35-28 in a game that was not decided until the final play. The
Cowboys (7-3) defeated the Cardinals for the 16th time in 17 games, but
barely held on after Plummer rallied Arizona from a 28-point deficit.
"I'm excited about the win," said Dallas coach Chan Gailey. "But we do
have things we have to work on. But when you go on the road and get a win
against a division opponent in these circumstances, I want them to enjoy
it."
Plummer passed for an NFL season-high 465 yards and three touchdowns.
Randall Cunningham of the
Minnesota Vikings held
the previous season high with 442 passing yards against Green Bay in Week
Five.
Plummer drove the Cardinals deep into Dallas territory with a 57-yard
pass to Rob Moore to the
Cowboys 5-yard line with nine seconds remaining. After Plummer
intentionally spiked the ball to stop the clock, he misfired on a pass to
Frank Sanders with
three seconds left. On the final play of the game, Plummer lofted a pass
into the right corner of the end zone, which Moore and Dallas cornerback Kevin Smith leaped for
simultaneously. The ball fell to the ground as Smith appeared to interfere
with Moore on the play, but no flag was thrown.
"I gave Rob a fade signal," said Plummer. "And it's obviously a route
we need to work on. I left it short a couple of times today. With a guy
like him, I have to get it up there and let him go up and get it. There's
going to be people saying Smith interfered, but that's crunch time. The
refs kind of let it go."
Smith moved past Jim Brown (126) and Walter Payton (125) on the
all-time touchdowns list. Smith has scored 23 of his 120 rushing
touchdowns against Arizona, his most against any team, and is just three
rushing scores shy of Marcus Allen for the all-time record.
Smith also surpassed Franco Harris and moved into seventh-place place
on the all-time rushing list with 12,223 yards.
"The most important thing for me was to win that game," said Smith.
"My mind is really not on records. I don't have time to sit back and
reflect on what's ahead for me as far as the record books. I don know what
is ahead for me on the schedule. That's where I'm putting all my
attention."
The Cards (5-5), who have not been to the playoffs since the
strike-shortened 1982 season and last won a division title back in 1975,
blew a chance to climb into a first-place tie with Dallas atop the NFC
East. The Cardinals suffered a 38-10 loss at Dallas in the season opener.
"It was a tremendously disappointing loss," said Arizona coach Vince
Tobin. "If we could have won this ballgame, it would have taken us a giant
step towards getting a lot of people on the Cardinal bandwagon."
Smith, who carried 26 times, gave Dallas a commanding 21-0 lead on a
one-yard scoring plunge with 13:08 left in the first half. Deion Sanders intercepted
Plummer and returned the ball to the Arizona 2, setting up Smith's second
one-yard TD as Dallas led 28-0 with just over three minutes left. Smith's
final score, a three-yard run, gave Dallas a 35-14 advantage with 3:48
remaining.
"It was a great game," said Sanders. "The Cardinals came back. They
perservered and never gave up. We're ecstatic. A win is a win."
The 100-yard game was the third straight for Smith, who has reached
the plateau six times this season and 54 times in his career. He had two
100-yard games all of last season.
Plummer, who completed 31-of-56 passes, eclipsed his personal high of
388 yards set last year against the New York Giants. The 465
passing yards places him third in franchise history behind Boomer Esiason,
who threw for 522 yards in a 1996 game against Washington and Neil Lomax
(468 yards vs Washington in 1984). Plummer also established career highs
for completions and pass attempts.
Troy Aikman was
14-of-18 for 208 yards and threw a one-yard TD pass to fullback Daryl Johnston to give the
Cowboys a 14-0 lead with 1:59 left in the first quarter. Michael Irvin did not have
a catch, snapping his streak of 117 consecutive games with a reception.
Trailing 28-0, Plummer found Frank Sanders on a two-yard scoring
strike with just 14 seconds left in the half. Sanders had 11 catches for
190 yards.
Plummer found Moore on a four-yard TD pass with four seconds left in
the third quarter to pull Arizona within 14 points and his seven-yard
strike to running back Adrian Murrell with 3:09
left capped the scoring. Moore had three catches for 77 yards.
Dallas' Chris
Warren opened the scoring with a three-yard TD run with 6:45 left in
the first quarter. Hurvin
McCormack recovered Sanders' fumble at the Arizona 32 and Aikman hit Ernie Mills with a 13-yard
pass and found tight end David LaFleur for 18 to
the Arizona 1, before tossing a TD pass to Johnston.
The Cowboys drove 66 yards on five plays early in the second quarter
and Smith capped the drive with the first of his three TD runs to give
Dallas a 21-point cushion.
Arizona outgained Dallas, 480-354, including a 448-208 advantage
through the air. The Cardinals had just 35 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Dallas leads the series, 49-23-1.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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