This time, Cardinals hold down Bears
The Bears were who Ken Whisenhunt thought they were: a tough football team to beat at home.
"They played hard and they came back," Arizona's second-year head coach said after his Cardinals' 41-21 victory on Sunday, despite the Bears pulling within 13 points in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals' win snapped the Bears' six-game home winning streak.
"The last thing I'll say is, we didn't let them off the hook," a smiling Whisenhunt said.
The last time an Arizona Cardinals head coach stood behind a podium and addressed the media following a game against Chicago, an angry Dennis Green gave reporters permission to crown the Bears' behinds.
Whisenhunt was the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive coordinator in 2006 when the Bears rallied for an improbable 24-23 win on a memorable Monday night in Arizona. The Bears came back from a 20-0 halftime deficit to stay unbeaten at 6-0, spawning Green's now-famous tirade.
"That was one of the tougher games I've ever been a part of - probably the second-toughest loss I've ever had," said wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, whose toughest defeat came against Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII.
Jay Cutler's third touchdown pass to Greg Olsen got the Bears within 34-21 with 9:04 left in the fourth quarter. But when Arizona safety Matt Ware returned an interception to the Bears' 17, the Cardinals' fifth win in eight games was all but sealed.
"I'm glad we were able to get that key interception," Fitzgerald said.
It was beginning to seem like déjà vu. Just like in 2006, the Cardinals were dominating the Bears, who suddenly and shockingly were back in the game late.
"I would be lying to you if I told you (the '06 game) didn't cross my mind," Fitzgerald said. "But we have a resilient group of guys and we were able to close it out."
Arizona was up 34-14 early in the fourth when Whisenhunt replaced starting quarterback Kurt Warner with backup Matt Leinart, who was the Cardinals' rookie starter in that '06 game against the Bears.
Zackary Bowman's interception of Leinart's intended deep pass to Fitzgerald led to Cutler's TD toss to Olsen.
"I was disappointed," Whisenhunt said. "We obviously can't turn the ball over on that one drive because we had a chance for a big play. We just missed the throw."
Warner was back in at QB on the Cardinals' next possession. The veteran finished 22 of 31 for 261 yards and 5 touchdown passes (no interceptions), with a stellar passer rating of 135.9.
"You've got to give our coaching staff a lot of credit," said Fitzgerald, who had 9 catches, including 2 for touchdowns. "Those guys just keep finding ways to get us opportunities to make plays on the field. Kurt just played phenomenal again. He's making the right reads and getting the ball into the guys that are open."