In two of the Cardinals’ three losses this year they have played badly, ugly even. In all 5 of their wins however, they have played dominant football for the majority of the game. With each win they get closer to perfection, and the day when they are finally able to do that from start to finish they will receive an A+. Yet there is no denying Arizona performed like one of the best teams in the NFL for three solid quarters and earned themselves an overall A grade for yesterday’s Bears beat down.

Offensive Line- A+

They opened up the biggest rushing lanes Cardinals’ fans have seen since the days of Ottis Anderson, and only allowed one sack on Kurt Warner.

Rushing Game - A+

I have been trying to tell the non-believers for months: Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower have the talent to be one of the best RB tandems in the league. What they needed, like all good RBs, was to not get hit behind the line of scrimmage repeatedly, a hole or two to run through, and many more chances. All of their wishes were granted. Yesterday the team put it all together, as Arizona ran a season-high 31 times for 182 yards and an astounding 5.9 yards per carry average. Beanie Wells continued to flash his big play ability with a 26-yarder, finishing with 72 yards on 13 carries. Tim Hightower ran for a 14-yarder and managed 77 yards on 15 carries. They both ran hard and angry, punishing opponents in their wake. This game serves as the prototype of what a dream Cardinals offense looks like. If they can run like this consistently, they will be a Top 5 team by year’s end.

Passing Game- B+

Kurt Warner rebounded from a very bad game to play a very good one. It is hard to fault Warner for anything, but it cannot be ignored that the team still did not make more of an effort to take more shots down the field. Their longest completion of the day went for 24 yards, which is all good and well except for the fact the team has recognized the need to get more big plays in the passing game, and today they made no improvements in that area. Also, when Matt Leinart came into the game he threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off. Still, with Anquan Boldin an unhappy inactive, Larry Fitzgerald led all receivers with 123 yards on 9 receptions out of 14 targets, adding 2 TDs, and all other fazes of the passing game were flawless. Early Doucet filled in admirably. Doucet wasn’t quite as effective as Boldin would have been but he wasn’t a liability either.

Defensive Line- A

The intensity missing last week returned, as four different players logged sacks and they hit Jay Cutler eight black and blue times.

Against the Rush- B-

The stat line looks great, only 70 rushing yards allowed. However, that is on only 12 attempts giving the Bears a 5.8 YPC average. Tackling was better and gaps were manned adequately, if not stellarly. DRC is quietly becoming a very good tackler.

Against the Pass- C

Though Cutler pleased fantasy owners with 369 yards and 3 TDs, he did most of his damage when playing from way behind. The secondary looked confused at times, but made some nice plays here and there. The D-line put a solid amount of pressure on Cutler most of the game.

Special Teams- A+

The return game made no major blunders, and the two most unheralded heroes of the team continued to play exceptionally good ball: Kicker Neil Rackers and Punter Ben Graham may be both playing their way to the Pro Bowl. Graham put 3 of his 4 punts inside the Bears’ 20, averaging a solid 41.5 yards per punt with a long of 56. Rackers got the green light once more from coach to try another pooch kickoff, and he nailed it to perfection. The pooch is essentially a long version of an onside kick, wherein Rackers places it in a space vacated by opponents near their sideline, with Cardinals screaming down the field to recover the ball before the other team can even get around to touching it. If Will Davis had been able to corral it in, it would have been Arizona’s ball at the Chicago 28 yard line with a 21-7 lead and 11 minutes before halftime. Also, Rackers was a perfect on two field goal attempts and five extra points.

If it is not Calais Campbell blocking kicks, it is DRC who notched one today on a field goal attempt. Antrel Rolle was positioned in the end zone for just such an occurrence and ran back a dazzling, tackle-avoiding return for 59 yards to set up a field goal of their own just before half.

Coaching- B

Once again, it is tough to be exceptionally critical after a great win like this. The negatives first. With a 28-7 lead one minute to go before half, Chicago was facing a long field goal situation and for some inexplicable reason Arizona let 20 seconds roll off the clock before calling a timeout. The ensuing drive was kick started by DRC’s block and Rolle’s return which resulted in a field goal, but with those extra 20 seconds they may have gotten the ball into the end zone. As nice as 31-7 is, 35-7 is even better. Poor game management will not win in closely contested playoff games. Also, putting Matt Leinart in with 12 minutes to go in the game? I said it then and I say it now, it was too early. Why put in a cold QB at a crucial juncture of the game? The result was a Leinart interception on an under-thrown ball to Fitzgerald which darn near gave Chicago the momentum to get back in the game. However, give credit to Whisenhunt and staff for implementing a strong rushing game that was the key to the game, and maybe the season. Also, they deserve praise for getting the team to respond with a big win following a disappointing loss. Getting to a 4-0 record on the road is a big hurdle for this ball club.

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