Jake Plummer was given a second chance late in the fourth quarter and scored on a 1-yard dive. (Craig Cola - washingtonpost.com)

By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 23, 1998; Page C7

After their comeback bid against the Arizona Cardinals fell short yesterday, the Washington Redskins complained that the officials should have ruled either a touchdown or fumble when Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer lost the ball trying to get into the end zone on a key fourth-quarter play.

The Cardinals led 38-35 with about four minutes remaining and had a third-and-goal play from the Redskins 1-yard line. Plummer tried a sneak and attempted to hold out the ball over the plane of the goal line. The ball was knocked loose and recovered by linebacker Derek Smith.

But referee Mike Carey told a pool reporter later that no call was made because no official saw clearly whether it was a touchdown or fumble. After conferring, the officials ruled that Plummer's forward progress stopped before he got into the end zone or fumbled. The Cardinals retained possession a few inches from the goal line, and Plummer sneaked in for a fourth-down touchdown and a 45-35 lead.

"That was like when you're about 8 years old and you're in the yard and you're playing with your buddies and you've got five on each side, and you weren't sure what it was," Redskins Coach Norv Turner said. "You used to call a do-over. . . . They may as well have made it third down. You'd just like to see them make a call."

Said Redskins linebacker Marvcus Patton: "I don't understand how they couldn't see it. That's what they're there for. That's why they're positioned where they are."

Redskins cornerback Darrell Green said he believed that the Cardinals' controversial ending the week before – when an apparent pass interference on the game's final play went uncalled and Arizona lost to the Dallas Cowboys – was a factor yesterday.

"I felt like it was a cop-out," Green said. "Coming on the heels of a number of plays [the Cardinals] had last week, their house was in an uproar. And that was the easiest way to handle it."