Cardinals Use Snake Attack

Jake “the Snake” Plummer is back.

With former New York Giant quarterback Dave Brown at the helm for the Arizona Cardinals, things weren’t going well. So Coach Vince Tobin replaced Brown with Plummer in the second half, and the result was a 34-24 Cardinal victory over the Giants on Sunday.

Plummer completed 12 of 18 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals (5-6) won their third in a row and the Giants (5-6) lost their third in a row.

“It was a surprise seeing him,” Cardinal defensive end Simeon Rice said. “We were apprehensive about his finger, but he came out there, and I think his presence made the offense just click a little better.”

Plummer has been sidelined the past four weeks because of a broken finger, but he was just what the Cardinals needed after the Giants scored twice late in the first half to take a 10-6 lead.

Plummer’s first touchdown pass, a two-yard play to Rob Moore, came early in the third quarter after the first of three interceptions thrown by Kerry Collins in the second half.

Plummer had a nine-yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Johnny Williams on the first play of the fourth quarter. He also led a 60-yard touchdown drive that Mario Bates capped with a two-yard run after New York closed to 20-17 in the fourth quarter.

“There is really no pressure when you come in off the bench,” Plummer said. “I told the coach thanks for getting me in there.”

Eric Swann scored on a 42-yard interception return with 1:57 to play to close out the scoring for Arizona, which got two field goals from Chris Jacke with Brown at quarterback in the first half.