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Sunday, September 24, 4 p.m., Fox

LINE: Dallas by 14

RECORD VS. OPPONENT: Ryan: 8-4, Switzer: 2-0

SERIES RECORD: Dallas leads the series 42-22-1

LAST TIME MET: On October 23, 1994, Dallas travelled to Arizona after drubbing them 38-3 in Dallas. Dallas Backup QB Rodney Peete comes off of the bench after Wilbur Marshall's spearing of Aikman to throw 2 TD passes and lead the Cowboys to a 28-21 victory over the Cardinals.

LAST GAME: Dallas won 23-17 last week on the back (feet) of Emmitt Smith, who scored a 31-yard TD in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings at Minnesota. Arizona got their first win last week hosting the Lions, coming from 11 points down to win 20-17.

ARIZONA OFFENSE v RUSH (No. 26), PASS (No. 29), OVERALL (No. 29)
RB Garrison Hearst carried the offense with 121 yards rushing on 22 carries. QB Dave Krieg with an anemic QB Rating of 46.3 was far from spectacular (15-for-24 for 158 yards), but he threw game-winning fourth quarter TD to WR Anthony Edwards and no INTs in their 2nd half comeback.

COWBOYS OFFENSE v RUSH (No. 1), PASS (No. 13), OVERALL (No. 2)
RB Emmitt Smith has been pulling away from the league's other rushers with 427 yards rushing, 7 TDs and 6.4-yard average per carry. QB Troy Aikman thrown just 1 INT this season and is currently sporting a 97.1 QB rating. WR Michael Irvin has 21 catches for 310 yards, raking him 2nd in the NFC. Erik Williams is out 2 to 3 weeks with a calf muscle pull

ARIZONA DEFENSE v RUSH (No. 30), PASS (No. 8), OVERALL (No. 27)
Buddy Ryan's defensive prowess is failing, as the Cards simply cannot stop running game. RB Barry Sanders and Lions gained 160 yards and they are giving up 195 yards rushing per game. This does not bode well against the NFL league-leading rusher and TD scorer. They did, however, force rare fumbles from Sanders and kept him out of end zone in goal-line stand. MLB Eric Hill (calf) and DL Eric Swann (knee) are doubtful.

COWBOYS DEFENSE v RUSH (No. 6), PASS (No. 4), OVERALL (No. 3)
With CB Kevin Smith (Achilles tendon) out and CB Deion Sanders still about a month from playing, CB Clayton Holmes has been starting, and has shown signs of stability. Despite being tested by strong passing teams (Broncos and Vikings), Holmes and rest of secondary have played well (168 yards passing per game).

SPECIAL TEAM
Cardinals K Greg Davis is 6 for 7 on FG attempts and P Jeff Feagles has 45.2-yard average (second in NFC). ... Cowboys WR Kevin Williams is averaging 8.4 yards on punt returns and 19.2 on kickoffs.

STREAKS, STATS & NOTES
Aikman is 43-11 (.796) in his last 54 starts. He has 11 TDs in 10 games against the Cardinals. RB Emmitt Smith has scored a rushing TD in a club-record 10 straight games (tie for 4th-best in NFL history). His 2nd-best rushing day came against the Cardinals (182 yards) on 9/22/91. ...Irvin caught 13 passes for 251 yards in 2 games vs. Arizona last year. He has a 68-game catch streak, and also broke Cowboys record, previously held by Tony Hill, with his 27th 100-yard receiving game. Irvin's career-best receiving day (210 yards) came against the Cards on 9/29/92. ... Cowboys OT Ron Stone will replace Erik Williams. ...Cowboys converted their 1st-ever two-point conversion against the Vikings last week (Aikman to TD Jay Novacek). ...RB Garrison Hearst rushed for his first 100-yard game (121 yards) in the win over the Lions. ...Davis tied his club-record with 55-yard FG last week. ... Cardinals have lost 9 straight to Cowboys, but coach Buddy Ryan, despite last season's 2 losses, has 8-4 record vs. Dallas.