Jake Plummer

TEMPE, Ariz. - On a weekend when AFC playoff teams were riddled by upsets, the Ravens proved bulletproof in a desert ambush. They survived a questionable replay reversal yesterday, got two huge turnovers by linebacker Jamie Sharper and just enough offense to squeeze past the gritty Arizona Cardinals, 13-7, before a sparse crowd of 37,452 at Sun Devil Stadium. When the smoke of Week 16 cleared, the Ravens (11-4) had assured themselves of no worse than a home game in the wild-card round.

Arizona (3-10) at Jacksonville (6-7) Time: 1 p.m. Line: Jaguars by 16 1/2 . Vs. spread: Cardinals 3-10; Jaguars 5-7. Series: First meeting. Outlook: The Jaguars are hot. Coach Tom Coughlin has rallied his team, and Jacksonville is seeking its fourth straight victory. It is too late for the Jaguars to make the playoffs, but they are fast becoming the team that no playoff hopeful wants to mess with. Meanwhile, QB Jake Plummer returns to the Arizona lineup. He'll help, but Jacksonville is playing too well to lose to the lowly Cardinals.

Top performances There have been some real bonehead plays that I'm trying to eliminate. I'm just trying to play quarterback the way you are supposed to play it. Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer, who has no interceptions in his past two games They didn't blitz at all. It was the exact opposite of what we had prepared for. I was expecting them to come after me all day, but they played exactly different. Browns quarterback Tim Couch, who completed 16 of 22 passes for 138 yards against the Cardinals The line put pressure on him. He made a bad decision.

Arizona Cardinals Last season: 6-10, fourth. Coach: Vince Tobin (26-38), fifth season with Cardinals. Strength of schedule: tie for 28th. Starting quarterback: Jake Plummer (15-21). Best move: By selecting RB Thomas Jones of Virginia in the first round, the Cardinals addressed one of their more glaring needs. Jones should jump-start a ground game that ranked 29th in 1999. Missing piece: There still is no bona fide tight end on the roster, which will not help Plummer. Inexplicably, there was no serious interest in Ben Coates.

Arizona (2-5) at N.Y. Jets (1-6)Time: 1 p.m.Line: Jets by 7 1/2.Vs. spread: Cardinals 2-5; Jets 2-4.Last week: Cardinals lost to Patriots, 27-3. Jets had a bye.Series: Tied 2-2.Last meeting: Jets won, 31-21, on Oct. 27, 1996, at Arizona.Outlook: Rick Mirer vs. Dave Brown. Bad vs. Worse. Wake us when this sleep-fest is over. Ray Lucas' ankle is still sore, so the Jets are stuck with Mirer at QB for another week. As bad as he has been, Mirer should be good enough to beat Brown, subbing for an injured Jake Plummer, and a reeling Arizona team that has scored 85 points -- that's fewer than every other team except Cleveland -- and more than 16 in a game once, in the opener vs. Philadelphia.

After quarterback Jim Druckenmiller's first workout in training camp, San Francisco general manager Bill Walsh raised a few eyebrows by saying, "I was very impressed. He looked really good."The remarks were surprising, because Walsh has been a frequent critic of the team's decision to take Druckenmiller over Jake Plummer in the draft two years ago.It turned out Walsh's comments had more to do with his relationship with coach Steve Mariucci than with Druckenmiller.It's been awkward at times for Mariucci to work under the man who started the 49ers dynasty.

Quarterbacks still figure to go 1-2-3 and running back Ricky Williams of Texas is likely to be picked in the fourth spot in tomorrow's NFL draft.After that, it's anybody's guess what will happen because the St. Louis Rams scrambled the draft board yesterday by acquiring veteran running back Marshall Faulk from the Indianapolis Colts.The trade sent scouts all over the league scurrying to their draft boards to assess the ramifications of the deal.Among other things, it means the Colts plan to replace Faulk by drafting one of the top two running backs with the No. 4 overall pick.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the Minnesota Vikings insisted it wasn't as easy as it looked yesterday.The Vikings seemed to be in cruise control as they jumped to a 17-0 lead and routed the outmanned Arizona Cardinals, 41-21, to advance to the NFC title game next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.They're now one victory away from their first Super Bowl appearance in 22 years and the fifth in the history of the franchise.Minnesota is good enough to make a hero out of Ravens castoff Leroy Hoard, who became the first Viking to score three touchdowns in a playoff game.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- On the surface, it doesn't look as if life has changed much for Jake Plummer.He still plays in the same town and stadium where he became a folk hero by leading Arizona State to the Rose Bowl and nearly to a share of the national championship two years ago.He still dresses in jeans and sweat shirts, looking more like the relatively poor college student that he was rather than the second-highest-paid player in the NFL that he recently became.One...