To make matters doubly as bad for the Bears, Rex Grossman couldn't have played worse. I don't know what his quarterback rating was for Monday night's game-he completed just 14 of 37 pass attempts for 148 yards, threw four miserable interceptions and floated several potential-interceptions, and fumbled twice-but it should be a negative number. I have never seen a quarterback play worse, perhaps with the exception of Jets' third-stringer Brooks Bollinger last season, but comparing a supposed star to a perennial scrub is unfair.
The net result for three quarters: 20 unanswered Cardinals points, a helpless Bears defense and impotent Bears offense, a rocking home Arizona crowd on the biggest NFL regular season stage, and all indicators promising a monumental upset to triumphantly usher the Leinart era in the desert. Yet, in spite of all the ostensible evidence suggesting otherwise, with each Arizona touchdown piling on the other, I increasingly felt that it was simply a matter of time until the Bears woke up and managed somehow to at least render the game competitive, if not win it. Not that the Bears are that good-to be sure, they are 6-0, but they have beaten lousy or injured teams (the Packers, Lions, Vikings, Bills, Shaun Alexander-less Seahawks, and now the Cardinals).
Still, you had to feel that the Cardinals team was the reluctant wimp in a playground fight who lands a series of shocking successful punches against a bully then pulls back, waiting for the inevitable killer counterattack. The Cardinals lose. And even if that rule fails by some fluke, the Cardinals certainly don't win on Monday Night Football. They don't even play on Monday Night Football. They definitely don't rout a vicious, undefeated juggernaut with championship hopes on Monday Night Football.
The bubble burst near the end of the third quarter, and the predictable Chicago onslaught ensued. There is nothing remarkable or surprising about that. What's incredible-even historic-is how the Bears pulled it off: two fumble recoveries run back for touchdowns, and a full-field punt return for another score. On one of the fumbles, Urlacher ripped the ball out of Arizona running back Edgerrin James' hands like an inexorable maniac hotly pursuing his next victim. In perhaps the most extraordinary defensive assault I have ever witnessed, the Bears stormed to a 24-23 lead without an offensive score.
Grossman should have bought a ticket, because he would have helped just as much watching the game from the stands. In fact, he would have helped even more, because he wouldn't have harmed his teams by throwing four interceptions. The game Monday night proved two contradictory things about the Bears: On the one hand, the Cardinals' first half success suggests that experts have severely overrated the Bears this early in the season; on the other hand, if the Bears exhibited any offense to go with that absurdly powerful defense, they would annihilate other teams. The fourth quarter insanity speaks to each team's psyche. The Bears found a way to win even with a broken leg and one arm tied behind their back. They adopt a perpetual killer's mentality; they know that it is right for them to win. The Cardinals froze in the shocking temporary glory of their first half shutout. No one in their locker room, perhaps with the exception of head coach Dennis Green, believes deep down that they really are winners. It takes a radical change in attitude to achieve a winner's mentality. Steve Nash brings it to the Suns, Jason Kidd to the Nets, Derek Jeter to the Yankees, Tom Brady to the Patriots and Peyton Manning to the Colts. The silver lining in this latest illustration of the Cardinals' losing funk is that they may have found their future savior in Leinart. He stood up to the Bears in one half more impressively than the Cardinals have challenged in the NFL in a decade. He led intelligent, balanced drives and embraced the pressure. He even put his team in position to take back the victory after giving it away, setting up a 40-yard field goal that the kicker, of course, missed. Forty yards isn't far, but, again, the Cardinals don't make game-winning field goals on Monday Night Football, especially against this year's Bears, and especially after letting the sleeping giant wake up and stomp on them. But Leinart showed the Cardinals how to finally challenge their loserdom, and that is the first step towards consistency. After two weeks of blowing 14-0 leads, sealing victories will come later.
Headache
The NFL suspended the Tennessee Titans' defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth five games for stomping on an opponent's bare head, literally, two weeks ago. The Cowboys' Andre Gurode lay on the field with his helmet knocked off after a play, and Haynesworth, wearing cleats on the feet of a 320-lb. frame, raised his right leg and pounded down on Gurode's head, opening a gash. It's difficult to watch the replay and think that Haynesworth's attack was less horrific than Marty McSorley's on-ice assault of Donald Brashear in the 2000-2001 NHL season. McSorely skated behind Brashear and swung his stick full speed at Brashear's head. The NFL suspended McSorely for that entire season. The NBA similarly punished Ron Artest with a 73-game suspension for his central role in the Detroit brawl two years ago. Haynesworth will step back onto the field in six weeks after essentially committing aggravated assault. Is that really the message the NFL wants to send?