FanPost

Great Moments in Cardinals History: 16 Seconds to Glory

Sixteen seconds. In the grand scheme of things, sixteen seconds seems so miniscule that most of us regularly waste away much more time than that merely deciding upon how to spend our day. But on December 27, 1998, the Arizona Cardinals faithful realized precisely how long, and how rewarding 16 seconds could become.

After being in the Arizona desert for 11 seasons, the Cardinals found themselves in new territory. A win on Sunday meant the Cardinals would finish the season in 2nd place in the NFC East, clinching a playoff berth. A loss on Sunday would, yet again, eliminate the Cardinals from playoff contention and provide the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a trip to Dallas as the Wild Card team instead.

After polishing off a delicious Jack-in-the-Box lunch on Mill Avenue, I headed towards the stadium with high hopes.

The 8 - 7 Cardinals were heading into this final game of the season on a 2-game winning streak, both by game-winning field goals from recently added kicker Chris Jacke. The Chargers, after losing the four games prior, headed into the game with a woeful 5-10 record and the only motivation being the opportunity to play the upset card. In front of a rare sell-out crowd of 71, 670 at Sun Devil Stadium, the game was underway and the fans were pumped.

After marching down the field, the Arizona Cardinals jumped on the board first with a 4-yard touchdown rush by running back Adrian Murrell. This would be the highlight of Murrell’s day as he would wind up carrying the ball 18 times for a measly 25 yards. The Chargers defense, anchored by hard-hitting Pro-bowlers Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison, were not about to let the Cardinals break off any big plays.

The Cardinals defense, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to find an answer for San Diego’s running game. Mostly from the legs of Terrell Fletcher, the Chargers would proceed to rattle of 174 yards rushing while consistently marching the ball down the field. Thankfully, Arizona free safety Kwamie Lassiter had a lock on Chargers quarterback Craig Whelihan all day long. Kwamie would prove to be the dead-end on four separate drives as he tied an NFL record for most interceptions in one game (4).

Even though they were winning the turnover battle, the Cardinals couldn’t make much of their opportunities on offense. In the 2nd quarter, the Cardinals took a 10-0 lead behind a 37-yard field goal from Chris Jacke. Jacke had been picked up a little earlier in the season after Cardinals starting kicker, Joe Nedney, went down with an injury.

Nearing the end of the 2nd quarter, the Chargers closed the gap to 10-3 after a 31-yard field goal by John Carney. There would be no more scoring as the first half would finish up a tight race slightly in the Cards’ favor.

With renewed hope and energy, and deafening cheers, the Cardinals took the field in the 3rd quarter hoping to find some additional offense. They found some offense, but once again it came in the form of 3 points off the leg of Jacke. The Cardinals were leading 13-3 in the 3rd and, thanks to turnovers, would finish the quarter with that ten point lead.

And it all began to crumble. With jeers of ‘same old Cards’ echoed in the stands, Carney booted a 26-yarder through the goal posts. When the Cardinals couldn’t put anything together on the ensuing drive, the Chargers began to taste blood. With the clock winding down, Whelihan completed a 30 yard touchdown pass to receiver Ryan Thelwell. After a Carney extra point, the game was tied.

With hands clasped on top of my head in complete exasperation, I looked at the clock.

Sixteen seconds.

The very Cardinals that had failed to piece together much of an offense all game would have just 16 seconds to find the playoffs. In sports, 16 seconds can be a lifetime.

The kick was in the air and Eric Metcalf was poised to return. I can still hear my dad ranting about the skills of Eric Metcalf and how he would be so much better if he weren’t on the Cleveland Browns. Well, today, he was on the Arizona Cardinals. Today, we would need those skills.

Metcalf fielded the ball at the Cardinals 10-yard line and was off like a rocket! He slashed between would-be tacklers and used his blockers for a 45-yard return that would land the Cardinals all the way down the San Diego 45-yard line.

With 7 seconds left on the clock, Jake Plummer and the Arizona offense had hope. To that point, Plummer had found little success completing 18-of-40 passes for 254 yards and no td’s. The moment seemed like a lifetime. Everyone in the stands was deliberating on exactly what play to call. Do we throw to the sideline? Should we go for it all and throw into the end zone? We have two timeouts. Maybe we should run the ball and play for overtime?

In the end, Plummer wound up 19-of-41 for 264 yards and no td’s. He didn’t need a touchdown. Jake "the snake" Plummer dropped back and found a wide open Frank Sanders for a 10-yard completion. A quick timeout gave the Cardinals the opportunity for a game-winning 52-yard field goal attempt with only 3 seconds left on the clock.

Out trots Chris Jacke.

The ball is snapped and the kick is up…

It immediately curves right…

Then it curves left…

With the slightest curve back to the right, the long attempt dips just inside the right post for the win!

Players cried and crazy Cardinals fans stormed the field! The news that night would be littered with pictures of insanely happy fans climbing the goal posts and trying to tear them down.

While I didn’t rush the field (I was in a suite so I was far too high), I did note one important fact: the Cardinals would finally be in the national spotlight in the playoffs. On that day, I was celebrating what I considered to be the greatest moment in Arizona Cardinals history.

click here to watch the ending: The Last 16 Seconds

<em>This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.</em>