Winless Cardinals Play Cowboys Tonight

Gene Stallings, who spent 14 years as an assistant coach under Tom Landry at Dallas before becoming head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, says he understands why St. Louis fans and players dislike Dallas.

For one thing, the Cowboys have beaten the Cardinals in 12 of their last 15 meetings.

“You know, you’re always a little envious of someone who does well,” said Stallings, whose Cardinals (0-3) meet the Cowboys (2-1) tonight at 6 p.m. PDT. “When you can’t, you have a tendency to throw rocks. I want to be as successful as Dallas.”

Stallings is off to a rocky start in St. Louis and the Cardinals have numerous starters who are injured and cannot play, including wide receivers Roy Green and Pat Tilley and running back Stump Mitchell.

Dallas, meanwhile, will be without running back Tony Dorsett, who is sidelined with a sprained left knee suffered last week in the Cowboys’ loss to Atlanta. Dorsett did not accompany the team to St. Louis and will be replaced in the lineup by Herschel Walker.