When you unplug the MAF the car should be off each time.
Plugging and unplugged while running isn't how that test is done. If your MAF is fine when you unplug the idle should change slightly and giving it throttle should cause it to bog.
MAFs can fail in all manner of ways and it isn't always a major failure. Sometimes it's unusually high fuel consumption, sometimes it's off idle bog, sometimes it's high rpm missfire and other times it's all three when it's so far gone that it might as well not even be there.
First thing you should try is to get a bottle of MAF cleaner. Give it a good clean if you've never done it. A bottle will only cost you about $15 and it will take you 20 minutes max to do it.
Then while you have it out for cleaning check the plug. They can corrode as water can get to it from the side of the bonnet. If it's corroded apply a coating of deoxit and clean it up with some contact cleaner.
While there are other things that can cause your idle missfire, it's a good idea to make sure the MAF is working as it should as it can throw out the entire tune which is especially true for LH2.2 as it relies very heavily on the MAF for its fuel trim. LH2.4 does too but it seems to affect it way less when a MAF is on the way out.