Cardinals’ Coach Overwhelmed by Cowboys’ Greeting, 37-6

Dallas quarterback Danny White, starting for the first time in a month, and Herschel Walker made it a lousy homecoming for St. Louis Coach Gene Stallings.

The Cowboys made use of White’s two touchdown passes and Walker’s 120 yards rushing in a 37-6 rout of the Cardinals Sunday.

Stallings was an assistant under Dallas Coach Tom Landry for 14 years, and it was his first appearance in Texas Stadium as an NFL head coach. Landry gave his former pupil a 31-7 lesson when the two teams met in St. Louis last month.

It was Dallas’ 100th victory in Texas Stadium and 13th in 15 games against the Cardinals here. “It was nice being back in Texas Stadium again, but I didn’t like the result one bit,” Stallings said. “We just got whipped and we don’t have any excuses. The Cowboys are even a better team now than the one we played earlier. Danny White was good and Walker really helps their offense.”

Dallas scored on seven of its first eight possessions against the Cardinals, who lost linebacker E.J. Junior with a bruised knee in the first quarter.

Landry said he was concerned going into the game.

“Anytime you beat a team like we did the first time, you normally have a rough time the second time around,” he said. “I thought this game would be tight. St. Louis has a lot of injuries. I felt sorry for Gene. He’s gone through a lot this year.

“We are at the halfway point and 6-2 is very good,” Landry said.

Landry said he started White “because he needs the work. We’ve got the (New York) Giants coming up Sunday, and we’ll need him. He made enough good decisions today to score a lot of points.”

Dallas is a half-game behind the Washington Redskins in the NFC East, while the Cardinals dropped to 1-7.

White played only the first half, throwing touchdown passes of 36 yards to rookie Mike Sherrard and 20 yards to Tony Hill as Dallas rolled to a 27-6 halftime lead.

The Dallas quarterback aggravated a groin injury and also suffered a lacerated chin, so Landry decided not to risk him in the second half.

Walker, starting at tailback because of Tony Dorsett’s bruised knee, scored on touchdown runs of 19 and 4 yards and got his first 100-yard rushing day in the NFL. He had 25 carries and caught 4 passes for 37 yards.

It was the first time a Dallas running back other than Dorsett rushed for 100 yards since Robert Newhouse did it against St. Louis in 1979.

The Cardinals’ Neil Lomax completed 17 of 34 passes for 172 yards. He connected on 6 of 9 in a 56-yard drive that culminated with John Lee’s 36-yard field goal on the final play of the half. The other St. Louis score came on a 45-yard field goal by Lee early in the second quarter.