Billick Proves He Could Provide Innovative Ideas

Minnesota offensive coordinator Brian Billick, who will probably be working in Baltimore or Cleveland next season as head coach, showcased his creativity for his potential new employers by using running back David Palmer at quarterback on short yardage situations.

He even designed a play for Palmer to throw the ball, “although it might be the last time,” Billick said after Palmer threw the ball incomplete while falling to the turf.

Palmer’s introduction in the Viking offense, however, is another indication of just how powerful Minnesota can be.

“Everybody thinks it’s so easy,” Billick said. “But it’s like great actors. People think it just comes natural, but it belies the hard work, and these guys deserve all the credit they’re getting, because they’ve put in that hard work.”

Palmer, a running back, went into the game to play quarterback while Randall Cunningham shifted outside to wide receiver.

“We had a play designed for me to cross the middle,” Cunningham said with a grin. “But I didn’t want to go there, so I kind of just went straight down the field.”

Palmer gained a pair of first downs while running, and came in another time and lined up at wide receiver, catching a first-down pass from Cunningham.

Billick said one of the main reasons to run the play is to force future opponents to prepare for it.

“You just never know,” said Billick. “We might use it again.”

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Minnesota left tackle Todd Steussie, guilty of a false start twice, got popped in the facemask by center Jeff Christy’s fist after the second penalty. The unusual wake-up call worked--Steussie wasn’t penalized for false starts the rest of the game.

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If you have Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Cunningham and Robert Smith in your offensive arsenal, why would you ever allow the ball to settle in the hands of Charles Evans? Evans ran the ball once--for one yard.

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Although the Cardinals were trounced, they remained pesky, a compliment to the play of quarterback Jake Plummer, who finished a tough day 23 for 41 for 242 yards.

“He’s got tremendous resilience,” Arizona Coach Vince Tobin said. “He’s going to fight you 60 minutes. We’re happy to have him, and as a team, we came a long way this season. I think we laid the foundation this year for some good football teams in the future.”

Plummer, who completed several passes while on his way to the ground, said, “We thought we could win this game, even when we had six minutes left and were down by 20. We’re going to let this one sting for awhile, because it’s a good reminder of what we have to do to get back here next year and get past this step.”