It was supposed to be an intriguing battle between a pair of 4-3 playoff hopefuls, two of the past three NFC champions. It was billed as a knock-down, drag-out tussle between the Chicago Bears, a team that had been dominant at its Soldier Field home, and the Arizona Cardinals, who had played their best football on the road. It was hyped as a quarterback battle to watch between Kurt Warner, the steely veteran, and Jay Cutler, the NFL's future at the position.
Ultimately, it was all that and more. For a little more than a quarter.
By halftime, the Cardinals had sprinted to a 31-7 advantage from which the Bears would not recover in an eventual 41-21 loss.
Arizona scored on its first six possessions of the game, including touchdowns on its first four, and had already amassed 21 first-downs and 320 total yards by the time the first 30 minutes had ended.
The Chicago defense had no clue against Warner, who was a sizzling 17-of-22 for 189 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, and the Bears were rarely in the same zip code as wideout Larry Fitzgerald, who burned them for seven catches, 88 yards, and two touchdowns over the first two quarters.
Meanwhile, Cutler couldn't keep up, with his erratic play serving as a continuation of the way he'd looked leading the offense in previous games against the Bengals (a 45-10 loss) and Browns (a 30-6 win). After leading a touchdown drive on the Bears' first possession, Chicago came up empty on its next six marches of the day.
By the time he gave Chicago fans something to cheer about when he threw back- to-back fourth-quarter touchdown passes to tight end Greg Olsen, it was already way too late.
Any fleeting hopes for a miraculous comeback attempt ended with the score at 34-21 at the 6:51 mark, when Cutler threw his first interception of the day.
Four plays later, Warner threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game, and it was indeed over.
"Don't have a lot of reasons to give you why we played that way," head coach Lovie Smith said after his team's third loss in its last four games, following a 3-1 start. "I know we're a better football team than that. But of course, our play didn't say that today.
Although there does not appear to be a quick-fix coming for a team that has underachieved in every aspect of the game of late, a quicker fix than usual is unfortunately in order for the Bears this week.
Chicago will kick off the NFL's late-season Thursday night schedule this week, when they must travel to meet the San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco (3-5), coached by former Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, finds itself in a desperate situation as well after a 34-27 loss to the Titans last week extended the once-promising club's losing streak to four games.
It would seem that the Bears would have a golden opportunity to rebound against a 49ers squad that hasn't won since shutting out the lowly Rams on Oct. 4. Then again, one of San Francisco's three wins this year is against a Cardinals team that just left the Windy City as a 20-point winner.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@