Cardinals Give Cowboys the Old 3-4 Punch : NFC: Phoenix switches from 4-3 defense and limits Dallas to 100 yards of offense in 20-3 victory.

The Phoenix Cardinals got their second victory of the season by avoiding a second-half blowout for the first time in three weeks.

Entering Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Cardinals had been outscored by 48 points in the second halves of losses to New Orleans and Washington.

But a retooled Phoenix defense limited the Cowboys to 100 yards of offense and rookie Johnny Johnson rushed for 120 yards in 19 carries to lead the Cardinals to a 20-3 victory.

Cardinal Coach Joe Bugel spent last week’s open date restructuring Phoenix’s pass rush by switching from the 4-3 to the 3-4 defense.

“We wanted to fill the passing lanes and get in his (Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman’s) face,” Bugel said. “We wanted to do something different. We were 1-3 and needed a shot in the arm.”

Aikman completed only nine of 25 passes for 61 yards with two interceptions. He also was sacked four times.

It was first time in four years that the Cardinals had limited an opponent to less than 100 yards passing. They limited the Rams to 91 yards on Sept. 7, 1986.

“I would say we went 100% backwards today,” Aikman said. “Phoenix put as much pressure on me as I’ve had this year. We expected a 4-3 defense and they came out with a 3-4.

“It wasn’t foreign to us. We played against it the last two weeks but we didn’t play well against it this time.”

Phoenix compiled 414 yards of offense with quarterback Timm Rosenbach completing 19 of 27 passes for 171 yards.

“Our defense kept Dallas in the hole all day. That loosened things up for our offense,” said Rosenbach, who rushed for 41 yards on seven scrambles. “When I got into the huddle, I saw it in the linemen’s eyes. We were going to make things happen today.”

Roy Green had six receptions for 54 yards to become the Cardinals’ all-time leader with 485 career catches.

Green, a 12-year pro, moved past tight end Jackie Smith, who had 480 receptions from 1963-1977.

Johnson, who scored the final touchdown on a nine-yard run with 6:11 left, became the first Cardinal to rush for 100 yards in a game since Earl Ferrell gained 110 on Oct. 30, 1988, at Dallas.

It was the first time in 15 games that the Cowboys have allowed a runner to rush for 100 yards or more against them.

“It feels beautiful, but I have to give the credit to the offensive line,” said Johnson, who has 423 yards in 93 carries this season.

“Our line’s giving me all kinds of room to run and it’s easy to make yardage once you get into the secondary.”

The Cardinals (2-3) led 10-0 at halftime and held on from there.

Dallas (2-4) did make a game of it briefly in the second half when Ken Willis kicked a 37-yard field goal to pull within 10-3 with 13:07 remaining in the third quarter.

But Jay Taylor intercepted an Aikman pass and returned it 34 yards to the Cardinal 47, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Al Del Greco at the start of the fourth quarter that increased the Cardinals’ lead to 13-3.

Anthony Thompson, a rookie from Indiana, rushed for 41 yards in 13 carries and gave Phoenix a 7-0 lead on a one-yard run early in the first quarter.

The score came eight plays after safety Lonnie Young recovered an Alonzo Highsmith fumble at the Cardinal 47-yard line.

Cowboy rookie Emmitt Smith, who rushed for 121 yards in last week’s victory over Tampa Bay, was held to 48 yards in 12 carries.