Plummer Puts Hurt on Lions

Jake Plummer had a Band-Aid over a cut that required two stitches on his chin. And with a bruised tail bone, he moved like an old man with arthritis.

After an afternoon of scrambling escapes, big plays and another fourth-quarter comeback in a 45-38 victory over the winless Detroit Lions, the hurt was worth it.

“Sometimes it makes you feel good. They gave me their best shot, and I got right back up,” Plummer said. “So keep bringing it, because you’re not going to keep me down.”

Plummer passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns, two to David Boston, as the Cardinals rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter.

It was the sixth time in a row Detroit (0-9) has lost by eight points or fewer.

Plummer, who matched his career best in touchdown passes set as a rookie in 1997, led the Cardinals to a fourth-quarter comeback for the 14th time and second time this season. He completed 21 of 33 passes and had one intercepted.

“I was very happy that we put some points on the board,” Coach Dave McGinnis said. “I told some of you guys this week that sooner or later, we’re going to get into a scoring fest.”

Arizona (3-6) had only 13 touchdowns in its first eight games.

“That’s the performance I’ve been waiting to see,” said Frank Sanders, who had seven catches for 127 yards.

The Cardinals scored a combined 20 points in their previous three games, all losses.

“We knew the dam was going to break sometime,” Plummer said.

It came against Vince Tobin, fired seven games into last season as Cardinal coach. Tobin is the Lion defensive coordinator.

Kwamie Lassiter deflected one pass that was intercepted and picked off two more for the Cardinals--all in the fourth quarter. He has seven this season.

Sanders caught a 68-yard pass for a touchdown, the Cardinals’ longest play of the season.

Detroit’s Charlie Batch threw for a franchise-record 436 yards. He completed 36 of 62 with three touchdowns, but was intercepted three times in the fourth quarter.