NFL Roundup: Boom! Cards make noise in East

Barry Wilner

Monday, Nov. 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

This was the week the Washington Redskins would take a stranglehold on the NFC East standings. Or when the Philadelphia Eagles would surge back to the top. Or when the Dallas Cowboys would solidify themselves in a division they usually dominate.

No, it wasn't.

It was the week when the Arizona Cardinals -- yes, the Cardinals -- climbed to .500 and, perhaps, into playoff contention with a wild 36-30 decision over Philadelphia. And when the Cowboys tumbled into a precarious position by losing at the New York Giants, 20-6.

As for the Redskins, they at least lost to a winning team, the San Francisco 49ers. And they did extend the 49ers to overtime before succumbing 19-16.

So a well-shaken NFC East still has all five teams where they began Sunday. But the Redskins are 8-4, the Eagles and Cowboys 7-5, the Cardinals -- yes, the Cardinals -- at 6-6 and the Giants 5-7.

Hardly the power of the conference, especially with Green Bay beating St. Louis 24-9 to join San Francisco at 9-3. And Carolina lurking at 8-4 after routing Houston 31-6.

"We've had some amazing things happen to us the last three weeks," said Cardinals quarterback Boomer Esiason, and he could have been speaking for the entire division.

* CARDINALS 36, EAGLES 30: After Esiason hit Larry Centers for a 2-yard touchdown and a 29-20 lead, host Arizona looked safe. Then Derrick Witherspoon returned the kickoff 95 yards for a Philadelphia TD, Johnny Thomas recovered an onside kick and Gary Anderson's 32-yard field goal gave the Eagles a 30-29 lead with 52 seconds remaining. With no timeouts, Arizona went on a six-play, 66-yard drive. Marcus Dowdell beat Troy Vincent and caught the winning touchdown pass. "Boomer just knows how to win," Arizona linebacker Eric Hill said. "He went in there and got the job done."

* 49ERS 19, REDSKINS 16 (OT): This time, San Francisco prevailed in overtime. Losers to Green Bay and Dallas in OT this year, the visiting 49ers went 73 yards to tie the game on William Floyd's 1-yard run with 1:57 left in regulation. Jeff Wilkins made a 38-yard field goal to win it. Steve Young, who had two concussions in the previous three weeks, completed 20 straight passes at one point. "I feel great," he said. "As good as I've felt all year. I love football. Playing under a gray sky in a stadium like RFK, the stands bouncing, the chill in the air. That's what you play football for. I just wanted to have some fun."

* GIANTS 20, COWBOYS 6: Try figuring out Dallas this year. The Cowboys win the games for which they are primed -- Miami and former coach Jimmy Johnson, San Francisco and Green Bay. Then they lost to mediocre New York. Safety Tito Wooten broke open the game by returning Michael Irvin's fumble 54 yards for a touchdown just before halftime. "We screwed up all night," said coach Barry Switzer, who benched Emmmit Smith (18 yards rushing) in the fourth quarter. "We stunk. We didn't take care of our business. We gave them four turnovers that led to points."

* PACKERS 24, CARDINALS 9: Green Bay struggled early, falling behind 9-0 to host St. Louis (3-9). But after Kevin Carter caught Brett Favre in the end zone for a safety, it was all Green Bay. Doug Evans' 33-yard interception return put the Packers ahead, then Favre threw for two TDs -- one each to Keith Jackson and Dorsey Levens.

* PANTHERS 31, OILERS 6: Second-year Carolina assured itself at least a .500 season and is in excellent shape for a playoff berth. The visiting Panthers, winners of three in a row, held the Oilers to less than 100 yards until late in the third quarter. And linebacker Sam Mills scooped up a fumble and ran 41 yards for a touchdown. Houston (6-6) had the second-smallest crowd ever in the Astrodome. Only 20,107 attended the game. The Oilers are moving to Tennessee after next season.

* BRONCOS 21, VIKINGS 17: Is Denver a charmed team? Not a crazy thought after it stole a victory at Minnesota (6-6). With 19 seconds left, Ed McCaffrey caught a ball twice deflected by Vikings defenders and fell into the end zone for the winning points. It was the eighth straight victory for Denver (11-1). "I saw it go up and I just ran to the ball," McCaffrey said. "I was thinking I'd have to make a tackle. It seemed like it was up there for about 10 minutes."

* BILLS 35, JETS 10: Host Buffalo (9-3) lost Thurman Thomas (lower leg) in the first quarter, Jim Kelly (hamstring) in the second and Steve Tasker (sprained knee) late in the game. But Kelly already had three TD throws -- two to Andre Reed, one to Tasker -- when he left. And Todd Collins also found Tasker for a TD. The former special teams ace had six catches for 160 yards in his best NFL performance. Adrian Murrell gained 103 yards, pushing his season total to 1,041 for New York (1-11). He is the first Jets back since Freeman McNeil in 1985 to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

* PATRIOTS 27, COLTS 13: Welcome back, Curtis Martin. Martin rushed 141 yards on a season-high 35 carries as New England (8-4), which had the third worst rushing attack in the NFL, never was threatened by visiting, injury-riddled Indianapolis (6-6). "I feel real good. I feel like I could start the game over," Martin said. "I'm in the flow of the game when I get the ball 25-30 times." One of the few bright spots for the Colts, who lost quarterback Jim Harbaugh with a strained left knee ligament, was Cary Blanchard, who broke Jim O'Brien's 25-year-old club record of 11 consecutive successful field goals. Blanchard's kicks of 42 and 50 yards gave him 13 straight.

* CHARGERS 28, CHIEFS 14: Tony Martin caught five passes for 148 yards and two TDs for San Diego (7-5), which bounced back from a home loss to Tampa Bay and snapped Kansas City's 12-game AFC West winning streak. The host Chiefs (8-4), who had given up a league-low average of 52.6 rushing yards and 12 points while winning their previous three games, yielded 350 total yards in the first three periods. Said Chiefs star cornerback Dale Carter, "I just got my butt beat. Mentally, I was just out of it. I just flat didn't know what to do out there today."

* BENGALS 41, FALCONS 31: Jeff Blake, who went to the Pro Bowl last year, woke up from his season-long slumber to throw for a season-high 349 yards and four touchdowns as host Cincinnati (5-7) picked on an injury-thinned Atlanta secondary. Cincinnati is 4-1 since Bruce Coslet replaced Dave Shula as coach. Atlanta is 2-10. "They just couldn't keep up with our receivers," Blake said. "We went to work today and had fun doing it."

* BEARS 31, LIONS 14: Dave Krieg threw for three TDs and host Chicago (5-7), which had averaged just 12.5 points in its previous four games, got 122 yards rushing from Raymont Harris. Barry Sanders became the first player to rush for 1,000 yards in eight seasons. He had 107 yards for 1,089 this year and also moved past O.J. Simpson into eighth place on the NFL career rushing list. But Detroit (5-7) lost for the fifth time in six games.

* JAGUARS 28, RAVENS 25 (OT): Jacksonville (5-7) won for the first time on the road this season and extended its record to 4-0 vs. the Ravens (nee Cleveland Browns) since entering the league last year. The Jaguars fought back from a 15-point deficit in the final 13 minutes of regulation before Mike Hollis kicked a 34-yard field goal in overtime. It was the second time in three games they rallied to beat Baltimore (3-9).

* BUCCANEERS 13, SAINTS 7: Trent Dilfer threw for 253 yards and one touchdown, and Tampa Bay's defense extended its string of holding opponents to 17 or fewer points to seven consecutive games. The Buccaneers (4-8) won their third in a row, while the Saints (2-10) have lost five straight.

* RAIDERS 27, SEAHAWKS 21: Without injured quarterback John Friesz, Seattle couldn't hand a fourth straight loss to visiting Oakland (5-7). Jeff Hostetler threw two touchdown passes and Napoleon Kaufman ran for 104 yards. Seattle (5-7) is 1-5 with Rick Mirer at quarterback.

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