The Big ‘D’ Now Stands for Defense

Jake Plummer picked himself up from a sack and dropped back to pass again. Then he was hit so hard that his right shoulder pad popped out of his jersey and he had to call a timeout to catch his breath.

Then came another slow, slump-shouldered walk to the sideline.

Plummer had a lot of them Sunday as a strong showing by the Dallas defense--highlighted by Dexter Coakley’s 10-yard interception return for a touchdown--carried the Cowboys to a 17-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Dallas (2-4) has consecutive games for the first time since opening the 1999 season with three consecutive victories. Arizona (2-4) lost its 12th straight regular-season game at Texas Stadium.

“We kept after him, nobody pulled the reins back on us,” said defensive tackle Brandon Noble, who had the second of those consecutive fourth-quarter sacks. “The thing about Jake is if you get to him a few times and start hitting him, he’ll start playing that backyard football kind of stuff.”

Clint Stoerner, who went into training camp fourth on the Cowboys’ depth chart at quarterback after a mediocre summer with the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe, completed nine of 18 passes for 93 yards. He also ran seven times for 23 yards, including a six-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter for a 10-3 lead.

Plummer drove the Cardinals into Cowboy territory on almost every possession in the first half, yet couldn’t come up with big plays when he needed them. Then, with Arizona pinned at its one, he provided the game-breaker for Dallas.

Flushed to the back of the end zone, Plummer threw instead of taking a safety. No Cardinals were near the ball, which went straight to Coakley. Two teammates shepherded him into the end zone.