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Plummer leads Cardinals to last-minute win

Associated Press

TEMPE - Jake Plummer the miracle worker is back.

Plummer, ineffective nearly all afternoon in his return to the Arizona starting lineup, directed the Cardinals to two touchdowns in the final 4:31 as they rallied to beat Philadelphia 21-17 yesterday for their fourth victory in a row, their longest winning streak since 1988.

''The guy just has great resilience,'' Frank Sanders said. ''The guy just won't quit.''

Sanders' diving catch of Plummer's 38-yard pass just inches from the goal line set up Plummer's 1-yard sneak for the winning touchdown with 57 seconds to play. The officials reviewed the play to make sure Sanders was inbounds, and the catch was upheld.

''It's one of those balls where it's him or nobody. He's got a burst to the ball like nobody I've seen and he made a great catch,'' Plummer said. ''I could take credit for the throw, but somebody has got to be there to catch it.''

Arizona (6-6) moved within a game of first place in the NFC East going into next week's game at Washington.

Plummer, starting for the first time since breaking a finger on his passing hand Oct. 17, has rallied Arizona to victory 11 times when the Cardinals trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter. The last two comebacks came this season against Philadelphia. The Eagles lost to Arizona 25-24 in the season opener on Chris Jacke's 31-yard field goal as the game ended.

In his final two drives, Plummer completed 12 of 19 passes for 126 yards. Before that, he was 8-for-18 for 53 yards.

''Eventually, after playing so terribly for enough of a game, you get sick of it, and I flip the switch myself usually and say 'Let's go,''' Plummer said. ''The guys around me, they believe in me, and without our defense, I'm not doing this in the fourth quarter.''

At least four Eagles defenders dropped Plummer's passes for what should have been interceptions, the last one by Ike Reese just before the big pass to Sanders.

''If we get it,'' Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said, ''the game's over.''

The two scoring drives marked the first times Arizona had been past midfield since its opening series. The Cards managed just 54 yards rushing against a defense ranked 30th in the NFL against the run.

The Cardinals went 80 yards in 16 plays to cut the lead to 17-14 on Plummer's 3-yard pass to a leaping David Boston with 4:31 to play. Arizona stopped the Eagles (3-10) on their next possession and took over at its 31.

Arizona drove to the Philadelphia 39 and, on third-and-10, Plummer scrambled to his right and appeared to be able to run for a first down and put his team in range for a game-tying field goal. Instead, he heaved a perfect pass to Sanders, who caught it as he was diving out of bounds at the goal line.

''You know me,'' Plummer said. ''I'm not high percentage.''

He said he couldn't have made that throw early in the season when he was bothered by a sore thumb.

The Cardinals other touchdown came in the first quarter on Kwamie Lassiter's 78-yard interception return, their longest in 20 years.

Before Plummer's heroics, he had been outplayed by the Eagles' Donovan McNabb, who threw two second-quarter touchdown passes and frustrated Arizona with his scrambling.

McNabb completed 19 of 31 passes for 157 yards. He also rushed for 67 yards in nine carries.

''The positive thing was we were moving the ball, had some good drives, but we've got to seal the deal,'' McNabb said.

Philadelphia's Duce Staley rushed for 72 yards in 25 carries to pass the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season.

Leading 7-0, Arizona went for it on fourth-and-inches from its own 31, and Plummer didn't make it on a quarterback sneak with 10:30 left in the second quarter. The Eagles needed just four plays to tie it, McNabb hitting tight end Chad Lewis to make it 7-7.

''It's one of those decisions you make that when it doesn't work you wish you hadn't made it,'' Arizona coach Vince Tobin said. ''I still think that sometimes you have to go a little against the book.''

Philadelphia took the lead 14-7 with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 5:11 late in the first half. McNabb's 29-yard touchdown pass to Dameane Douglas' was Douglas' first scoring reception of his career.

Sanders' fumble early in the third quarter set up Norm Johnson's 29-yard field goal that made it 17-7.

Arizona went up 7-0 when McNabb's pass to Torrance Small was deflected by cornerback Aeneas Williams. Lassiter grabbed it with one hand and raced down the sidelines in the Cardinals' longest interception return since 1979.