Kurt Warner continued to state his case for the NFL's Most Valuable Player award, but it was last-ditch defence that saw the Arizona Cardinals extend their lead at the top of the NFC West.
Warner threw his third touchdown pass with over four minutes remaining and the Cardinals defence made a key stop as time expired to preserve a 29-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Arizona are now two games ahead of San Francisco, the Seattle Seahawks and the St Louis Rams as they seek a first divisional title since 1975.
San Francisco had a chance to snatch the spoils on the game's final possession as quarterback Shaun Hill drove the team 41 yards down the field to the Arizona two-yard line with 20 seconds left.
On first down Frank Gore rushed to the left side, falling down as he made the corner after being tagged before stumbling into the end zone. However, officials ruled that he was down by contact at the two-yard line, keeping the clock running.
Following a replay review, which showed Cardinals linebacker Chike Okeafor did indeed touch Gore before he fell, there were four seconds remaining. As the clock started on the whistle, the 49ers tried a run up the middle with Michael Robinson, who was stopped well short of the end zone to give Arizona the win.
The Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt was a relieved man. He told ESPN: "We found a way to win a tough game, which is something you have to do."
The exciting finish rivalled an explosive opening to the game as Allen Rossum raced 104 yards untouched on the opening kick-off return to give San Francisco a 7-0 lead 12 seconds into the contest.
The Cardinals could only manage a first-quarter field goal and the 49ers took a 14-3 lead with 14:19 left in the second when Hill found Josh Morgan with a 31-yard touchdown pass.
Arizona cut the deficit to one before tight end Vernon Davis, who was benched in San Francisco's last game, hauled in an 18-yard score to give the 49ers a 21-13 lead just before the interval.
The Cardinals were 24-23 down when Hill was intercepted by linebacker Karlos Dansby, who returned the ball 34 yards to the 49ers five-yard line with 5:06 left.
Two plays later, Warner hit Anquan Boldin with a quick pass to the right and the receiver lunged into the end zone for the touchdown to give the Cardinals a 29-24 lead with 4:16 left to play.
Warner completed 32 of 42 passes for 328 yards and threw two of his scores to Boldin, who leads the league with 10 touchdown receptions this season.
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
