The Dallas Cowboys host the Arizona Cardinals tonight in a game that used to be a division rivalry … that was prior to division realignment in 2002 when both the Cardinals and Cowboys played out of the NFC Eastern Division.
The rivalry then is a lot like one might think the contests are now … the Cowboys dominate.
It’s not Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson running up the score on a variety of coaches that manned the sidelines on the Cardinals side, but isn’t it still the same result? Dallas dominating the overmatched Cardinals?
Well, history doesn’t support that supposition.
It is true that while these two teams played out of the same division between 1970 and 2001, the Cowboys were consistent winners. At least straight-up. Dallas triumphed in 49 of 64 games, but in those same games, the Cardinals had a slight edge against the point spread, 32-31-1.
Since they both headed to new divisions in 2002, the Cardinals have an edge over Dallas in straight-up results, eight wins in a dozen games. The Cardinals also have the advantage in point spread decisions in those 12 games, 7 to 5. For you math wizards, you will note that since 1970 the Cowboys and Cardinals have met 76 times with Dallas winning 49 of those games straight-up and the Cardinals holding a narrow point spread edge of 39-36-1.