Same, old story for Bears: Things not well at safety
All of the Bears' top five safeties have missed time during training camp and the preseason, including rookie Major Wright (finger), Craig Steltz (ankle) and Josh Bullocks (quad), who did not play Saturday night.
All are expected back for the regular-season opener, if they're still on the roster, and Wright practiced last week but was not cleared for contact. Bullocks has missed all three preseason games.
"We've been in this situation before," said coach Lovie Smith, who has made a total of 40 lineup changes at free and strong safety in the previous six seasons. "It seems like the secondary in general there are a lot of injuries. They run a lot, it's a physical football game, too. We just look at it as an opportunity to see some more guys.
"We came in with a lot of guys that we like at the safety position, and we've needed every one. This week we may have to work different combinations, but during the course of the season you have to work those combinations."
Chris Harris started at free safety Saturday with Danieal Manning at strong safety, same as last week.
Manning led the Bears with 7 tackles, and he forced a fumble in the red zone that killed a Cardinals drive 7 yards short of the end zone.
Harris' missed tackle on Tim Hightower just past the line of scrimmage allowed the Arizona running back to make a 29-yard run in the third quarter.
Familiar role: Running back Chester Taylor has backed up Jamal Lewis with the Baltimore Ravens and Adrian Peterson with the Minnesota Vikings, so his role behind Matt Forte isn't foreign.
"I know how to work with another back," he said. "You have to have depth in the backfield because it's going to be a long season."
Taylor had just 8 carries for 11 yards in the first two preseason games. But he picked up 34 yards on his first carry Saturday with a nifty cutback move at the line of scrimmage and a couple of jukes in the open field.
In his only season as a full-time starter, Taylor rushed for 1,216 yards and caught 42 passes with the Vikings in 2006.
Learning process: Quarterback Jay Cutler agreed that inconsistency plagued the offense, keeping the Bears scoreless despite 166 yards of total offense in the first half.
"That's a great way to put it," he said. "It was just up and down, like a roller coaster. We had some big plays, we had some good plays, and then we'd come back and miss something. We wanted to get rid of that coming into the third preseason game. Obviously we're still learning a little bit."
Looking good: Rookie Dan LeFevour finished the game at quarterback after taking over for Jay Cutler following the first possession of the second half, and the sixth-round pick from Central Michigan completed 10 of 12 passes for 100 yards, a 3-yard TD pass to Juaquin Iglesias and a passer rating of 129.2.
Even with No. 2 quarterback Caleb Hanie out with a shoulder injury, Matt Gutierrez did not see any playing time for the second straight week, nor did Todd Collins.
Pecking order: D.J. Moore got the first snaps at nickel back ahead of Corey Graham and Tim Jennings.
Israel Idonije started ahead of Mark Anderson at left end after playing well in Week 2. The Bears started two of their first three drives with three tight ends in the game: Greg Olsen, Brandon Manumaleuna and Desmond Clark.
Linebacker Brian Iwuh got snaps with the 1s when Lance Briggs left with an ankle injury early in the second quarter. Briggs did not return.
Sitting it out: Quarterback Caleb Hanie (shoulder), safeties Craig Steltz (ankle), Josh Bullocks and Major Wright (finger), linebackers Nick Roach (knee) and Brian Urlacher (calf) and wide receiver Earl Bennett (hamstring) did not play. Will Ta'ufo'ou suffered a knee injury and did not return.