MIAMI (AP) -- As teammates at Arizona State, Derrick Rodgers used to have one of the best seats in the house to watch Jake Plummer work his quarterback magic.

So it's nothing new for the Miami Dolphins linebacker to flip on the TV and find highlights of Plummer leading the Arizona Cardinals to yet another last-minute miracle.

"Nothing he does surprises me," Rodgers mused. "I used to tell him, `I'd hate to see you on the other side of that line."'

Come Sunday, Rodgers gets the vantage point he'd hoped to avoid when the Cardinals visit for Miami's home opener.

"I played just one season with him, but he has that something," Rodgers said.

With last week's 25-24 triumph over Philadelphia, Plummer now has taken the Cardinals on a winning fourth-quarter drive 10 times in just 27 NFL games. Consider that it took John Elway, the NFL's comeback king, 42 games to compile 10 game-winning drives.

"I read that Brett Favre has only 11 comebacks in his career," Miami coach Jimmy Johnson added. "So you can tell Plummer's an outstanding quarterback."

Then again, at Plummer's current pace it will take him another seven seasons to approach Dan Marino's number of winning fourth-quarter drives. Marino, who turned 38 this week, has done it 47 times in 16-plus seasons.

Plummer, meanwhile, simply is just looking forward to sharing the same field with the NFL's career passing leader.

"It's going to be a good time to play against a guy who was a boyhood idol," Plummer said. "To be on the field as a legend like he is will be a lot of fun. If we pull out a win, it will be even better."

Marino doesn't engineer comebacks like he once did; he has recorded just one in each of the past three seasons. But with the strongest supporting cast he's had in years, playing from ahead is just as fun.

Marino completed 15 of 23 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown in beating Denver 38-21, earning honors as the AFC's top offensive player last week.

The Dolphins also showed new spark in their running game, using rookies J.J. Johnson and Rob Konrad to ease the load off Karim Abdul-Jabbar. The trio combined for 111 yards and two touchdowns, a third TD coming on a short pass.

"I've never been one to think much about running the ball," Marino acknowledged. "But when you run with success, it takes pressure off your defense, takes pressure off your offensive line. We can still pass when we need to. But if we need to run, we can do that."

Plummer's opener wasn't quite as impressive, completing only 25 of 48 passes for 274 yards with three interceptions. That left him with a quarterback rating of just 50.2. But the fourth quarter was spectacular.

The Cardinals trailed 21-0 after one quarter and 24-6 at halftime before finally starting to click. Plummer's 20-yard touchdown pass to Rob Moore with 4:03 left brought Arizona within 24-22, and he took over again at the Philadelphia 43 with 1:49 remaining.

Plummer's 17-yard naked bootleg moved the ball to the Eagles 4, and Chris Jacke's 31-yard field goal won it as time expired.

"I don't care what the score is," Moore said. "Whenever you have that guy, you have a chance."

Rodgers knows. In 1996, he watched from the sideline as Plummer led Arizona State to three fourth-quarter wins, an unbeaten regular season and a Rose Bowl berth, coming within 100 seconds of a national title.

His most vivid memory of Plummer: a pass reception on a halfback option that Plummer turned into a zig-zagging 16-yard touchdown, helping overcome a 21-point deficit against UCLA.

"You can't believe what he does sometimes," Rodgers said.

Plummer is most dangerous when he's on the move, leaving pursuers gasping for air and defenders scrambling to keep up with improvising receivers.

"You know you have to stay on your receiver," said Rodgers, who often takes the tight end in pass coverage. "You have to stay on your man because you just never know. And linemen can't take quite the risks."

Miami defensive end Rich Owens said the Dolphins will have to make sure they don't give up on a play too quickly.

"If you fall down, keep running," he said. "You never know. He might be on his way back (to your side) pretty soon."

For Arizona, falling 21 points behind the Dolphins would be almost impossible to overcome. Miami's defense gave up the fewest points in the NFL last season and kept Denver bottled up in its opening 38-21 win.

The Dolphins held Terrell Davis to 61 yards rushing and pressured rookie quarterback Brian Griese all night, getting two late sacks to prevent any thought of a Broncos comeback. Miami also blocked a punt and a field goal, both leading to scores.

"I'm glad they can only play 11 at a time," Arizona coach Vince Tobin said. "They're two and three deep at a lot of positions."

ARIZONA Season schedule and results

MIAMI Season schedule and results

September 12 @Philadelphia W 25-24 September 19 @Miami 1:00pm ET September 27 San Francisco 9:00pm ET October 3 @Dallas 1:00pm ET October 10 NY Giants 4:05pm ET October 17 Washington 8:20pm ET October 31 New England 4:05pm ET November 7 @NY Jets 1:00pm ET November 14 Detroit 4:15pm ET November 21 Dallas 4:15pm ET November 28 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET December 5 Philadelphia 4:05pm ET December 12 @Washington 1:00pm ET December 19 Buffalo 8:20pm ET December 26 @Atlanta 1:00pm ET January 2 @Green Bay 1:00pm ET

September 13 @Denver W 38-21 September 19 Arizona 1:00pm ET October 4 Buffalo 9:00pm ET October 10 @Indianapolis 4:15pm ET October 17 @New England 1:00pm ET October 24 Philadelphia 1:00pm ET October 31 @Oakland 4:05pm ET November 7 Tennessee 8:20pm ET November 14 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET November 21 New England 1:00pm ET November 25 @Dallas 4:15pm ET December 5 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 12 @NY Jets 4:05pm ET December 19 San Diego 1:00pm ET December 27 NY Jets 9:00pm ET January 2 @Washington 4:15pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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