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Sunday, Sep. 12 1:00pm ET
Arizona 25, Philadelphia 24 | |||||
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Look no farther for the NFL's new comeback kid: With John Elway retired, it must be Jake Plummer. Plummer, in his third year at quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, added another chapter to his growing list of late-game rallies Sunday. He led Arizona to 13 fourth-quarter points and set up a field goal with time running out as the Cardinals rallied from 21 points behind to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 25-24. Cardinals coach Vince Tobin wasn't ready to label Plummer a great QB. But he made a strong case for it. ``Jake has shown he's got the ability to come back and win ball games,'' he said Sunday. ``He's done that last year when we had to win three in a row coming down the stretch, coming from behind, and he led all of them every week sitting in a new and different situation.'' Plummer, nursing a sprained thumb on his throwing hand and doubtful to play, went 25-of-48 for 274 yards and a TD. After throwing three interceptions in the first half, he led the Cardinals to two TDs and two field goals in the second half. He has led Arizona to 10 comeback wins in his short career _ many of the victories coming in the closing seconds. He did it in the Cardinals' final three regular-season games of 1998 _ against the Eagles, New Orleans and San Diego _ to get Arizona into the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. But on Sunday, he sounded tired of always scrapping for victories. ``We'll learn from this,'' he said Sunday. ``Hopefully, we'll eliminate the mistakes early in games and not have to come back all the time.'' Plummer got them in the jam in the first place, throwing the three interceptions and staking Philadelphia to a 21-0 lead. He got the chance to help win it when Kwamie Lassiter picked off Doug Pederson at the Cardinals' 25 and returned it to the Philadelphia 43 with 1:49 left. Plummer hit Michael Pittman for a 13-yard gain, then put the Cardinals on the 4-yard line with a 17-yard run on a bootleg a few plays later. After Arizona ran the clock down to 4 seconds, Chris Jacke kicked the game-winner from 31 yards out. Plummer led the way back with two long drives in the second half, one capped by Mario Bates' 1-yard TD run and the other by Jacke's 32-yard field goal. Then, trailing 24-15, he hit Rob Moore for a 47-yard gain and a 20-yard touchdown to make it a two-point game with 4:03 left. ``I love the way he stays in there no matter what the circumstances,'' Tobin said. Plummer said his hand felt fine through the first-quarter foibles. He was just a little rusty after missing Arizona's last two exhibition games following the injury on Aug. 20. He credited Dave Brown, Arizona's backup, with the advice that turned him around. ``He just said, `Relax, let things come to you. Just get some completions,'' Plummer recalled. Andy Reid, making his debut as Eagles coach, said his defense weakened after spending 13 minutes on the field in the third period. ``Defensively, we have to make sure that we continue to make plays and pressure the quarterback,'' Reid said. ``You can't take a quarterback like Jake Plummer and allow him to have time.'' Notes: Arizona had the ball for 13:02 in the third quarter, and Reid said that wore down his defense. ... Jacke didn't know he was starting until Friday. ... Philadelphia scored more than 17 points for the first time in 13 games. They had their highest point total since a 35-32 loss at Washington on Dec. 21, 1997.
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