With 1:45 left, Leslie Shepherd capped a seven-play drive with a catch on the 2-yard line to complete a 35-yard scoring play and cutting Arizona's lead to 26-24. ( Rich Lipski - The Post)

By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 9, 1998; Page C1

TEMPE, Ariz., Nov. 8 – A furious final exchange today left the Washington Redskins with their most wrenching loss of what has been a miserable season.

The Redskins squandered a pair of 10-point leads and wasted a late comeback that was capped by place kicker Cary Blanchard's 54-yard, go-ahead field goal with 35 seconds to play, as quarterback Jake Plummer's heroics and kicker Joe Nedney's 47-yard field goal with two seconds remaining gave the Arizona Cardinals a wild 29-27 victory before 45,950 at Sun Devil Stadium.

The day ended with the Cardinals (5-4) still one game behind the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys, and with the Redskins (1-8) looking less likely to reassemble their season with a quick, second-half turnaround after last week's victory over the New York Giants.

"As I told our guys, I'm not going to hang my head and they shouldn't hang their heads," said Redskins Coach Norv Turner, whose team remained winless on the road. "This is a tough league. . . . You have to fight, and you have to make plays."

Plummer made the key plays today, even though he is struggling through his second NFL season. He completed 16 of 17 passes in the second half, and took the Cardinals 50 yards on six plays after they got the ball at their 20-yard line with 35 seconds left.

Nedney provided the winning points, just as he did last week when the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Lions, 17-15, on a 53-yard field goal. "After they kicked off, I told Coach [Vince Tobin] I'm good from 55 yards in," Nedney said. ". . . After that 53-yarder last week, 47 yards did not seem too long."

With 1:39 left, Stephen Davis, right, recovered an onside kick, giving the Redskins hope. (Rich Lipski - The Post)

Said Cardinals fullback Larry Centers: "This was a huge win. Humongous is a better word."

The Redskins tried a few blitzes against Plummer on the final drive. They tried zone and man-to-man coverages in the secondary. But the young quarterback was undeterred. On the first play, he connected with Centers for 15 yards, and then with wide receiver Eric Metcalf for 11 yards before the Cardinals called a timeout with 22 seconds left.

Wide receiver Frank Sanders provided a superb catch along the sideline for an 18-yard gain to the Redskins 36. Following an incompletion that ended a run of 15 completions, Plummer hit Metcalf for six yards to the 30 with eight seconds remaining. That set up Nedney's winning kick, which came after a timeout by the Cardinals and another by the Redskins.

"We thought we could stop them," Redskins safety Stanley Richard said. "We did some different things and came after him a few times. But Plummer bought himself some time and made the plays."

He also ruined what would have been a marvelous late comeback for the Redskins. They led 10-0 in the second quarter and 17-7 at halftime, but their offense went dormant and the Cardinals had a 26-17 advantage with just over three minutes to play.

With 35 seconds left, Cary Blanchard nailed a 54-yard field goal to give the Redskins a 27-26 lead. (John McDonnell - The Post)

However, Redskins quarterback Trent Green threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Leslie Shepherd with 1:39 to go, and Stephen Davis recovered Blanchard's ensuing onside kick at the Redskins 46. Green moved the Redskins to the Arizona 36, and Blanchard drilled his dramatic kick with plenty of room to spare.

On the doorstep of an uplifting win, the Redskins were left with plenty of could-have-beens to ponder. The day began with Brian Mitchell's apparent 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown being nullified by Patrise Alexander's illegal block 10 yards behind the play. Punter Matt Turk gave Arizona its 22nd and 23rd points early in the fourth quarter when a snap slipped through his hands and went out of the back of the end zone for a safety. And, as the Redskins offense was self-destructing in the second half, Turner left wide receiver Michael Westbrook on the bench. Westbrook was placed on the inactive list for last week's game after he missed Saturday meetings and practice; he also was fined approximately $4,000, sources said.

"We played a good football game," Mitchell said. "We wanted it bad. But they wanted it too, and they went out and took it from us. If we play like that every week, we'll win some football games."

With 35 seconds left, Arizona quarterback Jake Plummer marches his team down to the Redskins 36 yard line. With two seconds left, Joe Nedney, left, nails a 47-yard field goal for the win. (Rich Lipski - The Post)

The Cardinals rushed for 187 yards – 107 by Adrian Murrell – and got a pair of one-yard touchdown runs by Mario Bates. Until today, they hadn't scored more than 20 points in a game this season. The Redskins also had their highest scoring output of the season.

Mitchell wasn't as effective on his second return of the day as he had been on the ill-fated first. He took Scott Player's punt but fumbled the ball as he struggled for extra yards, and Arizona took over at Washington's 39-yard line. Four plays later, though, Cardinals tight end Chris Gedney fumbled after catching a second-down pass and Richard recovered.

The Redskins' ensuing drive stalled, but they pinned the Cardinals at their 2-yard line when Darryl Pounds kept Turk's punt from going into the end zone. The Redskins threw Murrell for a three-yard loss on third and one from the 11, and took possession at the Arizona 42 following Player's punt.

The Cardinals defense was most helpful from there, handing the Redskins 20 of the 26 yards they managed on their field goal drive with two penalties. Blanchard's 34-yard field goal made the score 3-0 with 1:02 left in the first quarter.

Washington made it 10-0 with a 55-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. On a third-and-five from the Arizona 38, Green eluded defensive end Simeon Rice to avoid a drive-ending sack and found tight end Jamie Asher for a 13-yard gain.. Skip Hicks's 20-yard run took the ball to the 5, and on third down he dove into the end zone from the 2 for his second touchdown in two weeks.

But the Cardinals didn't wilt. Metcalf's 41-yard kickoff return put them on their way to their first touchdown. Plummer went 16 yards with a quarterback draw on third and seven to give Arizona a first down at the Redskins 8. Murrell lost three yards but Plummer threw to Gedney for 10 yards to the 1. On third and goal, linebackers Marvcus Patton and Ken Harvey jumped to meet the leaping Bates. They stopped him initially, but he wriggled his way just across the goal line on the ground to get Arizona to within 10-7.

The Redskins replied after getting the ball at their 35 with 1:53 remaining before the break. The Arizona defense – again – did its part. A third-down holding penalty against safety Pat Tillman permitted the Redskins to keep possession. Green got his first completion to a wide receiver when he and James Thrash combined for a 28-yard play. Green's 17-yard completion to Asher got the ball to the Cardinals 6. Mitchell ran in untouched on second down for a 17-7 lead 38 seconds before halftime.

But Arizona went 80 yards with its first possession of the second half to trim the lead to 17-14. Plummer's mobility again was a major problem for the Redskins, as the quarterback went 27 yards on a scramble. Centers took Plummer's swing pass and dove into the corner of the end zone to cap the march with a four-yard touchdown.

The Redskins punted after three plays on both of its third-quarter possessions, and the Cardinals grabbed their first lead of the day 2½ minutes into the fourth quarter. The 60-yard drive was extended when Arizona left guard Chris Dishman recovered a fumble after defensive end Kenard Lang stripped the ball from Plummer. On the next play, a third and six, Plummer connected with Sanders for seven yards. A pair of 11-yard runs by Murrell moved the ball to the 2, and on second down Bates went in untouched over the left side from the 1.

The Redskins again went backward, with Green being sacked by Mark Smith on third down to force Turk to punt from the back line of his end zone. The snap from his brother Dan went through his hands and out of the end zone, and the safety extended Arizona's lead to 23-17 with 10:48 to play. Nedney's 26-yard field goal made it 26-17 at the 3:09 mark.