Week 2, September 12th, 1988, Dallas Cowboys (1-0) @ Phoenix Cardinals (0-1)

Monday, September 12th, 1988 8:00PM
Dallas Cowboys (1-0) @ Phoenix Cardinals (0-1)
Sun Devil Stadium
Weather: 89 degrees, relative humidity 25%, wind 10 mph
Line: Phoenix -2.5 (phoenix), O/U 45 (over)

Attendance:  67,139 (70,491)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yGRhwyqCmg

Dallas 24, Phoenix 30

The opening kickoff to a new era of NFL Football in Arizona

Sun Devil Stadium was near capacity as an electric crowd greeted NFL Football to the desert on Monday Night Football.  The 1-0 NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys were in town to face the 0-1 Cardinals who were handily beat by the Bengals, allowing over 300 yards rushing, which doesnt bode well in this matchup with week 1 leading rusher Herchel Walker.

Phoenix got the ball first, and the first play from scrimmage was a fumble by Earl Ferrell (18-94) recovered by Dallas End Ed "Too Tall" Jones.  Dallas converted a 22 yard field goal by Roger Ruzek to draw first blood  3-0.

Ferrell made up for the turnover on the Cardinals' next possession.  Ferrell had 3 runs for 49 yards and a catch for 5, setting up a 2 yard scramble by Quarterback Neil Lomax to put the Cardinals in front 7-3.

The Cardinals again moved the ball on their next chance, thanks to efficient passing by Lomax, and a 14 yard run on 4th and 2 by Stump Mitchell (10-42 TD).  The Cowboys defense held on 3 downs from the 3 and the Cardinals settled on a 22 yard Al Del Greco Field Goal.

Phoenix quickly got the ball back on a 3 and out.  On the 1st offensive play of the 2nd quarter, Lomax hit Roy Green (5-89) for a 52 yard bomb, followed by a 17 yard pass to Jay Novacek (3-35), to set up a 1 yard touchdown run up the middle by Stump Mitchell to extend the lead to 17-3.

The Cowboys finally saw some offense on their next drive.  Faced with a 3rd and 15 from the Arizona 46, Steve Pelluer (23-39, 229 Yards, 3 TD, INT, 90.7 rating) ran for 11 yards, and Tom Landry decided to roll the dice on 4th and 4 when Pelluer hit Steve Folsom for 10 yards to extend the drive, which was capped by an 8 yard touchdown pass to Ray Alexander.

Phoenix answered with a Del Greco Field Goal to take a 20-10 lead.  

Dallas again had success on the offensive side of the ball on their final drive of the half inside 4 minutes.  Ray Alexander (3-52 2 TD) and Timmy Newsome (4-23) both caught key passes from Pelluer.  Steve Folsom (4-28 TD) caught a 5 yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone to make the score 20-17 heading into halftime.

Neil Lomax managed the game very well for the Cardinals, as they mixed passing and running effectively to keep the Cowboys off balance.  Lomax went 22-38 for 262 Yards, and a touchdown (87.8 rating).  The Cardinals put up 434 yards in total offense.

The two teams would both figure out the defensive side of the ball in the 2nd half, but not before the Cowboys' 1st possession.  Thanks to a Pelluer connections to Kelvin Martin, Thornton Chandler twice, and a 21 yard touchdown strike, again to Ray Alexander, the Cowboys took an early 24-20 lead.  It was Steve Pelluer's 3rd touchdown pass of the game and 9th on the season in just 2 games.

Later in the 3rd Quarter, on a Mike Saxon punt, Vai Sikahema had a 28 yard return, setting up a Phoenix drive start at the Dallas 33, the punt netting only 13 yards.  The Cardinals scored on 3 quick completions, the last being a 4 yard pass to J.T. Smith across the middle to put Phoenix ahead 27-24.

On Phoenix's next possession, J.T. Smith had another huge grab, a flag pattern for 27 yards to set up Al Del Greco's 3rd field goal on the 1st play of the 4th quarter to close the scoring at 30-24 Phoenix.

Dallas could not break through in the 4th quarter.  On 4th and 1 from the 37, Steve Pelluer tried a sneak but was stuffed by safety Tim McDonald.  On the next drive, Herschel Walker (15-54, 4-48) finally made some big plays with a 33 yard reception and 13 yard run, only to see kicker Roger Ruzek squander the opportunity with a 39 yard missed field goal. Thanks to Punter Greg Horne's 2nd straight 22 yard punt, Dallas was again in Cardinals territory,  but Cedric Mack stepped in front of Ray Alexander for the interception with 2:14 remaining to make any hopes of a Dallas comeback disappear.  

Player of the Game:

J.T. Smith - Cardinals

The Cardinals' offense was well balanced, but no player made bigger plays when it counted more than J.T. Smith, including the game-winning touchdown in the 3rd quarter.

1988 Dallas 24, 1988 Phoenix 30
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 Dallas	3	14	7	0	0	24
1988 Phoenix	10	10	7	3	0	30

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	12:31	1988 Dallas	R.Ruzek 22 yd. field goal	3-0 DAN
1	8:43	1988 Phoenix	N.Lomax 2 yd. run (A.Del Greco kick)	7-3 PXN
1	1:34	1988 Phoenix	A.Del Greco 22 yd. field goal	10-3 PXN
2	13:56	1988 Phoenix	S.Mitchell 1 yd. run (A.Del Greco kick)	17-3 PXN
2	8:33	1988 Dallas	R.Alexander 8 yd. pass from S.Pelluer (R.Ruzek kick)	17-10 PXN
2	3:53	1988 Phoenix	A.Del Greco 32 yd. field goal	20-10 PXN
2	1:07	1988 Dallas	S.Folsom 5 yd. pass from S.Pelluer (R.Ruzek kick)	20-17 PXN
3	11:38	1988 Dallas	R.Alexander 21 yd. pass from S.Pelluer (R.Ruzek kick)	24-20 DAN
3	6:38	1988 Phoenix	J.Smith 4 yd. pass from N.Lomax (A.Del Greco kick)	27-24 PXN
4	14:44	1988 Phoenix	A.Del Greco 32 yd. field goal	30-24 PXN

Other Highlights
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Event	Player	Yards
1	14:30	1988 Phoenix	Fumble	Earl Ferrell
2	14:27	1988 Phoenix	Pass	Roy Green	52
3	0:02	1988 Phoenix	QBSack	Jim Jeffcoat	-4
4	8:14	1988 Dallas	Pass	Herschel Walker	33
4	6:17	1988 Dallas	QBSack	Niko Noga	-7
4	5:59	1988 Dallas	Missed Field Goal	Roger Ruzek	39
4	2:14	1988 Phoenix	Intercept	Cedric Mack	7

Team Statistics
	1988 Dallas	1988 Phoenix
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	2-16-1-19	11-15-3-29
Third Down Efficiency	4-12-33%	7-14-50%
Fourth Down Efficiency	1-2-50%	0-0-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	17-28-61%	30-42-71%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	311-61-5.1	405-73-5.5
Total Net Yards Rushing	89	147
Total Rushes	21	34
Average Per Rush	4.2	4.3
Passes Completed/Attempted	23/39 (59.0%)	22/38 (57.9%)
Net Yards Passing	222	258
Avg Yards Per Pass	5.9	6.9
Sacked/Yards Lost	1/7	1/4
Punts/Average	4/41.8	4/33.3
Punts Received/Return Yardage	3/23	3/30
Kickoffs/Returns	7/153	3/64
Interceptions/Returns	0/0	1/7
Penalties/Yards	13/86	7/35
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	1/0	2/1
Time of Possession	28 mins 56 secs	31 mins 4 secs
Average Drive Start	DAN 36	PXN 31

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 Dallas
Steve Pelluer	39	23	229	59.0	5.9	3	7.7	1	2.6	33	1/7	90.7
1988 Phoenix
Neil Lomax	38	22	262	57.9	6.9	1	2.6	0	0	52	1/4	87.8

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 Dallas
Herschel Walker	15	54	3.6	15	0	0	1/0
Steve Pelluer	6	35	5.8	11	0	0	0/0
1988 Phoenix
Earl Ferrell	18	94	5.2	18	0	0	1/1
Stump Mitchell	10	42	4.2	15	1	0	0/0
Neil Lomax	3	0	0.0	2	1	0	0/0
Tony Jordan	2	4	2.0	3	0	0	0/0
Ron Wolfley	1	7	7.0	7	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 Dallas
Kelvin Martin	5	50	10.0	13	0	0
Steve Folsom	4	28	7.0	10	1	0
Herschel Walker	4	48	12.0	33	0	0
Timmy Newsome	4	23	5.8	14	0	0
Ray Alexander	3	52	17.3	23	2	0
Thornton Chandler	2	24	12.0	14	0	0
Todd Fowler	1	4	4.0	4	0	0
1988 Phoenix
Roy Green	5	89	17.8	52	0	0
J.T. Smith	5	63	12.6	27	1	0
Earl Ferrell	4	36	9.0	16	0	0
Jay Novacek	3	35	11.7	17	0	0
Rob Awalt	3	18	6.0	11	0	0
Stump Mitchell	1	8	8.0	8	0	0
Ernie L. Jones	1	13	13.0	13	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 Dallas
Roger Ruzek	0/0	1/1	0/1	0/0	0/0	1/2	50.0
1988 Phoenix
Al Del Greco	0/0	1/1	2/2	0/0	0/0	3/3	100

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 Dallas
Mike Saxon	4	41.8	34.3	0	0	44	0
1988 Phoenix
Greg Horne	4	33.3	27.5	0	2	45	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Dallas
Darryl Clack	6	132	22.0	25	0
Cornell Burbage	1	21	21.0	21	0
1988 Phoenix
Vai Sikahema	2	42	21.0	22	0
Ernie L. Jones	1	22	22.0	22	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Dallas
Kelvin Martin	3	1	23	7.7	8	0
1988 Phoenix
Vai Sikahema	2	1	29	14.5	28	0
J.T. Smith	1	0	1	1.0	1	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 Dallas
Bill Bates	9	0	0
Everson Walls	7	0	0
Ron L. Burton	7	0	1
Garry Cobb	6	0	0
Eugene Lockhart	5	0	0
Kevin Brooks	4	0	0
Robert Williams	4	0	0
Jim Jeffcoat	4	1	0
Ed "Too Tall" Jones	2	0	0
Danny Noonan	2	0	0
Michael Downs	2	0	0
Herschel Walker	0	0	1
1988 Phoenix
Niko Noga	10	1	0
Anthony Bell	7	0	0
E.J. Junior	5	0	0
Tim McDonald	4	0	0
Lonnie Young	4	0	0
Carl Carter	3	0	0
Cedric Mack	2	0	0
Bob Clasby	2	0	0
Freddie Joe Nunn	2	0	1
Ken Harvey	1	0	0
Michael Brim	1	0	0
David Galloway	1	0	0

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Dallas
1988 Phoenix
Cedric Mack	1	7	7.0	7	0

Game Story

In a tightly fought contest Phoenix defeated Dallas by the score of 30 to 24. Neil Lomax threw 38 times for 262 yards with a touchdown. Earl Ferrell ran the ball 18 times for 94 yards. Phoenix controlled the ground game, out-rushing Dallas 147 to 89 yards. The fans were brought to their feet by a pass to Roy Green that covered 52 yards with 14:27 left in the 2nd quarter. Phoenix took the early lead outscoring Dallas 10 to 3 in the first quarter. They led at halftime 20 to 17. Phoenix led after three quarters 27 to 24.