NFL Recap (New Orleans-Arizona)
Posted: Sun December 20, 1998 at 9:55 p.m. EST
ARIZONA 19, NEW ORLEANS 17
TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Chris Jacke made a 36-yard
field goal as time expired, to give the Arizona Cardinals a
thrilling 19-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints,
pulling his team one step closer to their first playoff appearance in 16
years.
"Chris Jacke came through and kicked a pressure field goal," Arizona
coach Vince Tobin said. "I was extremely proud and happy for him. He's a
guy that's been out of football and to come in and have the opportunity to
win two games in a row -- what an accomplishment for him."
Arizona's Jake
Plummer, who has drawn comparisons to legendary quarterback Joe
Montana, staged a Montana-like 73-yard drive in the final 81 seconds after
New Orleans had taken a 17-16 lead. Plummer found Frank Sanders on two
completions for 53 yards before taking off on a pair of scrambles for 25
yards to set up Jacke's game-winning kick.
Plummer had a career-high 32 completions in 44 attempts for 394 yards
with an interception.
"You love that situation," said Plummer. "We've been in it too many
times, but we're never going to give up. Everybody knows I have the
ability to scramble. It happened to come at the right time for us. I just
like going out there and doing it."
Arizona (8-7) can clinch the final NFC wild card spot with a victory
at home against San Diego next weekend. The Cardinals haven't qualified
for the playoffs since the strike-shortened 1982 campaign, when they
finished the regular season at 5-4 before losing at Green Bay in the first
round of the Super Bowl Tournament, 41-16.
"We don't want to rely on anyone else," added Plummer. "We want to
rely on ourselves. We control our own destiny. It's simple, we win and
we're in."
Arizona began the day one game behind Dallas in the NFC East, but lost
any shot at a division title when the Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 13-9,
this afternoon. Dallas holds the tiebreaker advantage based on a series
sweep of the Cards.
For Jacke, it was the 17th game-winning field goal of his career and
second in as many weeks. He kicked a 32-yarder last Sunday against
Philadelphia to lift his team to a 20-17 overtime victory. Jacke, who was
signed two weeks ago to replace injured kicker Joe Nedney, has made
7-of-9 kicks over the past two games and converted from 21, 38, and 46
yards today.
The Saints (6-9) were eliminated from playoff contention and have lost
eight of 11 after opening the season with three wins.
"We lost a football game we could've won," New Orleans coach Mike
Ditka said. "(Sanders) ran no route at all. He was open on both passes.
He just runs out and turns around and we didn't have anyone covering him.
We are not very good, when we have to be. Their quarterback made us look
like fools all day. Maybe someday we'll get these things straightened
out."
New Orleans' Kerry
Collins threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Cameron Cleeland with 1:21
remaining to give the Saints a 17-16 lead. But that was just a little too
much time for Jake Plummer and the Cards. The offensive touchdown was the
Saints' first in 10 quarters, dating back to the second quarter of a 22-3
win over Dallas on December 6th.
Collins completed 25-of-43 passes for 265 yards and Cleeland caught
seven passes for 71 yards.
"We were in a position to win," said Collins. "I'm not gonna say the
defense didn't stop them. There's a lot of things we could have done
better. We could have scored some more points. We had a chance to do it
and we didn't. Falling short like this is real hard. We had everything
riding on it and we didn't get it done."
Sanders collected 10 receptions for 138 yards, while Rob Moore had nine catches
for 97 yards for the Cardinals, who control their own destiny despite
splitting their last six games.
Adrian Murrell had
the lone Arizona touchdown on a 29-yard run with 8:16 left in the third
quarter that gave the Cards a 13-10 lead. The run put Murrell over 1,000
yards for the third consecutive season, the previous two coming when he was
a member of the New York
Jets. Murrell became the first Cardinals back to rush for 1,000 yards
since Garrison Hearst
had 1,070 in 1995. He finished with 65 yards on 19 carries to bring his
season total to 1,013.
Arizona Pro Bowl cornerback Aeneas Williams left the
game with a toe injury midway through the third quarter and did not return.
But the Cardinals defense rose to the challenge to snuff several
fourth-quarter threats by the Saints, including a stop on fullback Aaron Craver on a
4th-and-1 attempt from the Cardinals 9 with 10:50 to go.
"The decision was if I can go ahead I win the football game," Ditka
added. "I made the call, only me. You've got to get a half a yard. If
you can't make it you don't deserve to win. It wouldn't have made any
difference. We were not going to win this game at the end. We went into a
shell."
The Saints scored their team-record ninth defensive touchdown on
safety Sammy Knight's
39-yard interception return with 11:45 left in the second quarter, which
put them ahead 7-3.
The Cardinals opened the scoring on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that
stalled inside the New Orleans 10 before Jacke's 21-yard field goal with
5:28 left in the first quarter. Jacke missed a 51-yard kick on Arizona's
opening drive.
After Knight's interception return, Arizona's red zone offense, which
had scored just one touchdown in its last 10 visits inside the opponents'
20, sputtered again. On a 2nd-and-goal from the 5, Sanders fumbled what
appeared to be a sure touchdown into the Saints' end zone after being
stripped by cornerback Alex
Molden at the 1. Safety Chad Cota recovered the
ball for New Orleans, preserving the Saints' 7-3 advantage.
Jacke capped a seven-play, 48-yard drive with a 38-yard boot with 2:04
left in the half to pull Arizona within one, but New Orleans answered with
an 11-play, 54-yard march and extended to a 10-6 advantage at the break on
Doug Brien's 28-yard
kick as time expired.
After linebacker Jamir
Miller recovered Collins' fumble at the Arizona 23, the Cards embarked
on a seven-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Murrell's touchdown jaunt.
Defensive tackle Bernard
Wilson blocked Brien's 54-yard field goal attempt with 1:57 left in the
third quarter to keep Arizona ahead by three.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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