NFL Recap (Arizona-St Louis)
Posted: Sun September 27, 1998 at 5:31 p.m. EDT
ARIZONA 20, ST LOUIS 17
ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Arizona Cardinals made
a successful return to the city they called home for 28 years, using a key
penalty to set up Joe
Nedney's 29-yard field goal with 4:04 remaining and coming away with a
20-17 victory over the St.
Louis Rams.
On 3rd-and chance to sell the fans on the St. Louis Rams, to make the
city proud. We're just disappointed that we couldn't pull it off," tight
end Ernie Conwell said.
Holcombe started for Greg Hill, who is out at least two months with a
broken leg. He staked the Rams to a 7-0 lead with their first
first-quarter touchdown of the season, going in from the 5 with 2 1/2
minutes to go.
Arizona used a big second quarter to pull ahead. Nedney got the Cards
on the board with a 22-yard field goal, capping a 72-yard drive on which
Plummer was 4-for-5 for 63 yards.
The Cardinals erupted for two touchdowns in a 50-second span to take
the lead. Plummer hit Sanders for a 13-yard score with 1:55 to go before
halftime and Arizona forced a quick punt after rookie Andre Wadsworth sacked Tony Banks.
Penalties again aided the Cards. Safety Gerald McBurrows was
called for 15-yard face mask penalty and McCleon was nailed for
intereference, putting Arizona at the Rams' 4. On the next play, Murrell
scored to make it 17-7.
St. Louis climbed within 17-10 as Jeff Wilkins kicked the
longest field goal in team history, a 57-yarder on the final play of the
half. It broke the mark of 54 yards, set by Tony Zendejas on September
12th, 1993 against Pittsburgh.
After a scoreless third quarter, Holcombe -- a second-round draft pick
out of Illinois -- boosted the Rams into a 17-17 tie with a four-yard run.
It came one play after Banks found J.T. Thomas for a 42-yard
gain.
"There's always room for improvement. I could've done some things or
broke something to change the outcome. But that didn't happen," Holcombe
said. "Hopefully, I can just keep doing this in the future."
Banks completed 15-of-26 passes for 171 yards but was sacked four
times. St. Louis also was penalized 10 times for 138 yards
"We had a number of penalties and the ones that killed us were those
pass interference penalties. But there's nothing we could do about it,"
Vermeil said. "Needless to say, I am a little disappointed. I expected
more from our offensive football team than we got. I thought the defense
showed some improvement."
Murrell led the Cardinals' ground attack with 68 yards on 29 carries.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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