One way to troubleshoot the MAF is to unplug it and drive it, yes. I have found that in cold temps, it does seem to want to stall out when first starting with the MAF unplugged. But the majority of the time, it is fine to drive without the MAF. It does affect gas mileage, or at least in my case. So don't do this unless you need to.
But my father had a similar problem. He had already replaced the MAF once with a rebuild one for $140. So he didn't think that was the problem. I had him unplug the MAF and start the car. It ran and idled fine. Then I had him plug in the MAF and start the car. Idled rough and almost died. Barely ran. Replaced the MAF with a good GM used one from Ed and it has been fine ever since.
