Injuries to Tillman, Afalava add to pain of loss
Adding to the insult of a 20-point loss were injuries to two more starters, cornerback Charles Tillman and rookie strong safety Al Afalava, both of whom suffered shoulder injuries.
Tillman and Afalava were both hurt in the second quarter and did not return. The Cardinals were already en route to their fourth straight TD and a 28-7 lead when the Bears suffered the injuries, so it was hard to blame them for the loss.
"Whenever guys don't finish the football game it's tough," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "But we'll have to pick it up and go."
Kevin Payne, who started training camp as the starter, replaced Afalava and finished with 7 tackles. Corey Graham stepped in for Tillman, and Zack Bowman, the other starting corner, switched over to cover Cardinals Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Afalava appeared to be hurt on Beanie Wells' 26-yard run.
"He ran through my arm and the (right) shoulder went numb," Afalava said. "I already injured it (in preseason), but I just did it more. It was when I missed the tackle on the long run." Even though he hasn't played much this season, Graham started nine games last season when Nate Vasher was injured, so the transition wasn't difficult.
"Of course, I'm comfortable doing it," he said. "I did it last year. It's not like anything different or anything new to me. You have to step up and make some plays."
Big-time wideouts: The Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald and the Bears' Devin Hester entered Sunday's game 1-2 in receptions over the past three weeks. Fitzgerald had 25 catches for 249 yards, while Hester had 21-for-265. Hester was fourth in yardage, while Fitzgerald was eighth. Both players had 1 touchdown.
Hester had another big day with 6 catches for 94 yards, the second-highest one-game total of his career and his fourth game over 80 yards this season. Hester leads the Bears with 41 catches and 548 yards, but he was upstaged by Fitzgerald, who caught 9 passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns, bringing his season totals to 56 receptions, 632 yards and 7 touchdowns.
"Kurt (Warner) just played phenomenally again," Fitzgerald said. "He's making the right reads and getting the ball to the guys that were open. When we're clicking like that, it's hard to stop us."
It was for the Bears.
Record blocker: Robbie Gould needed to convert his next 2 field goal attempts to become the NFL's all-time most accurate kicker, but his only attempt Sunday, a 48-yarder, was blocked by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and fell way short.
"I've got to get it off quicker," Gould said. "I've got to do my job."
Gould is now 120 of 140 in career FG attempts, an 85.7 success rate. Former Colts and Cowboys kicker Mike Vanderjagt is the current all-time leader at 86.5 percent (230 of 266). Gould's miss Sunday dropped him down a place into third behind the Chargers' Nate Kaeding, who is at 85.8 percent (133 of 155).