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NFL SCOREBOARD: Recap
Recap | Box Score | This Week's Scoreboard
Philadelphia 33, Arizona 14
Posted: Sunday October 15, 2000 10:52 PM
Philadelphia Eagles
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Arizona Cardinals
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TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Eagles were not about to be beaten by Jake Plummer in the fourth quarter again.

Keeping the ball away from Plummer early on, the Eagles built a huge lead and continued their surprising play away from home with a 33-14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Behind a surprising ground attack and short passing game, the Eagles controlled the ball for over 20 minutes in the first half and raced to a 17-0 advantage. Stanley Pritchett and quarterback Donovan McNabb each ran for touchdowns in the opening half.

"We all know what Jake is capable of. I think the best way of keeping him off the field is driving the ball and putting points on the board," McNabb said. "Jake and his offense are suited to come back, so we needed to keep them off the field."

McNabb threw a three-yard TD pass to tight end Chad Lewis in the third quarter that extended the margin to 24-0.

After Plummer threw a pair of touchdown passes to slice the deficit to 10, the Eagles put the game out of reach on Darnell Autry's one-yard TD run with 5:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Last season, Plummer rallied the Cardinals to a pair of wins in the fourth quarter against Philadelphia. On Opening Day, Plummer rallied Arizona from an 18-point deficit and later in the season he helped the Cardinals erase a 14-point deficit.

Philadelphia (4-3) improved to 3-1 on the road. Prior to this season, the Eagles won just once in 24 games (1-22-1) away from Veterans Stadium over the last three seasons.

Starting in place of Duce Staley, who is out for the remainder of the season, Autry produced 64 yards on 20 carries.

In his first full season as the starter, McNabb continued to show his maturity and completed 24-of-34 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown.

"Donvoan bounced back from the performance last week and played very well," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "We thought it was important to mix and match on offense. And this is a compliment to Jake, I don't think you could score enough against him."

The Cardinals (2-4) had a five-game winning streak against their NFC East rivals stopped.

Arizona looked like it would get off to a good start, driving into Eagles territory. But on a reverse, wide receiver David Boston went backwards before being hit by linebacker Carlos Emmons. Boston fumbled and rookie Corey Simon recovered and returned the ball five yards to the Arizona 45.

Cardinals coach Vince Tobin defended the play call.

"There's nothing wrong with that call," Tobin said. "Any call that isn't successful the first thing you could do is say there was something wrong with the call. The worst thing that should've happened is that we should've lost three yards but turnovers are the things that get you beat."

It took 10 plays, but the Eagles were able to cash that turnover in for a touchdown when Pritchett scored on a one-yard run. McNabb kept that drive alive with completions to Torrance Small and Lewis on third downs.

David Akers extended the lead to 10-0 with a 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

Dominating the first 30 minutes, the Eagles put an exclamation point on the half by going 83 yards in 17 plays. Arizona stopped the Eagles, who had to settle for Akers' 50-yard field goal. Instead, holder Koy Detmer took the snap and flipped over his shoulder to Akers, who ran 15 yards to the Arizona 17 for a first down.

"One of the first of the two weeks of the season, coach (John) Harbaugh and I were looking at some old film. The next day Koy and I went out there and threw the fake against the defense and it worked," Akers said. "On Monday, coach Harbaugh said we might use it this week.

It was really exciting to think I might score a touchdown. I think if we had one extra block downfield on Pat (Tillman) we might have gotten six points. My first thought was to not drop the ball. My last run was a fake punt in high school."

Three plays after Akers picked up the first down, McNabb ran three yards for a score to make it 17-0.

The start of the second half was a continuation of the first as the Eagles moved 58 yards in 10 plays. McNabb culminated that drive with a three-yard TD toss to Lewis, who had seven receptions for 62 yards.

Plummer attempted to rally the Cardinals, connecting with Boston on a 70-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to cut Philadelphia's lead to 24-7. Boston had six catches for 123 yards.

The Cards' signal-caller engineered a 12-play, 88-yard drive on the first possession of the fourth quarter and found Michael Pittman with a 10-yard TD pass with 10:47 left.

Plummer completed 18-of-30 passes for 213 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

"I'm obviously frustrated. We moved the ball so well," Plummer said. "Errors keep hurting us early. If you look how we ran the ball early, it's unfair to Michael (Pittman) the way we fall behind in games."

McNabb and Johnson, who worked extensively in the offseason toghether outside the receivers home in Arizona, hooked up on 59-yard pass later in the fourth quarter that put the ball on the Cards' 1. Autry, who went to high scool in Tempe, scored on a one-yard run on the next play to give Philadelphia a 30-14 lead with 5:28 left.

Akers capped the scoring with a 29-yard field goal with under three minutes left.


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