Defenseless

In a strikingly similar meltdown to that of two weeks ago in Cincinnati, the Bears were again pummeled, this time at home to the tune of 41-21.

The lifeless Bears were manhandled by Kurt Warner’s right-arm and the suddenly explosive running game of the Cardinals. Warner fired five touchdown passes on the day, four in the first half alone.

From the opening whistle, the Bears couldn’t get out of their own way. Following the fourth play of the game, defensive tackle Tommie Harris, was ejected, for delivering an unnecessary blow to the face of Cardinals guard Deuce Lutui. The incident was a sign of things to come for Chicago.

The Bears would later lose both cornerback Charles Tillman and safety Al Afalava to shoulder injuries, as Arizona launched its offensive onslaught.

By halftime, the Cardinals were already up 31-7, the Bears’ lone score coming on a Jay Cutler to Greg Olsen 33 yard pass play. Unfortunately, for Olsen, his career three TD performance would be clouded by a Bears defensive no-show.

The 369 yards and there TD’s thrown by Jay Cutler yesterday, were deceptive, as Chicago was in catch-up mode all day. Turnovers were not the culprit this time around, rather the shorthanded Bears defense’s inability to slow down the Arizona offensive attack.

A Kurt Warner led onslaught produced 27 first downs, 8-14 coming on third down. Warner was not picked off all day, throwing for 262 yards on 22 of 32 passes. It was vintage Kurt throughout.

Perhaps the most surprising statistic of the game, was the 182 yards that Cardinal RB’s were able to tally. Prior to yesterday’s game, the Arizona rushing “attack” was registering just 64.9 yards per game. Tim Hightower and rookie Beanie Wells combined for 149 yards on 28 carries to lead the ground game.

Life will not get any easier for the Bears in Week 10, as a short week has Chicago travelling out to San Francisco to tangle with Mike Singletary’s 3-5 49ers on Thursday. If the Bears do not find a way to heal quickly and scratch out a road win in the most difficult of circumstances, Bears faithful might as well pack it in.

By the way, the Cubs open up in Atlanta on April 5.