Just Pathetic

 

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December 6, 2021

 

The Arizona Cardinals have the best record in the National Football League. With returning starters, quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, they faced offed against the injury depleted Chicago Bears. The Cardinals took advantage of four interceptions to pummel the Bears 34-22. This game was not even close as this lopsided victory. The Bears got a consolation touchdown against a soft Cardinal defense up 34-14 with three minutes left. In what epitomizes the Bear season, on fourth down and twelve the Cardinals were penalized for roughing the punter. On the ensuing play, Andy Dalton threw his third interception. Before I go on, the let me dispel the notion that there is no such thing as Bear weather.

 Aside from the consolation touchdown, offensive guru Matt Nagy’s offense put up 14 points. Andy Dalton threw four interceptions. While excuses abound he was responsible for three. The first was a sickly thrown ball on which the receiver had to contort his body to make the catch. Instead he tipped the ball to a Cardinal defender. The fact that he tipped it was pretty amazing. The second was not Dalton’s fault. Down 7-0, the Bears were on a scoring drive. A completion to tight end Cole Kmet would have given the Bears a first down at the Cardinal 10 yard line. However, Kmet lost control and the ball fell into the hands of a Cardinal defenseman who ran it back to the Bears 15 yard line. It took no time at all for Murray to scamper nine yards to a 14-0 Cardinal lead. The excuse for the third interception was the ball was tipped. The ball was thrown by Dalton so the tip is his fault. There was no excuse for the fourth one. I often criticize David Montgomery but I thought he had his best game of the year. He had 21 carries for 90 yards and there were more nice runs than the three or less variety. They finally used his pass catching ability as he had five receptions for 51 yards.

 I hark back to when Nagy proclaimed if healthy, “Dalton is the starter. The next day he announced Fields would start over a healthy Dalton. It’s a bold face lie when he says he made the decision himself and not that somebody above him told to start Fields. Another recurring problem is the Bears never make half time adjustments. Just look at how many times they get shut out in the third quarter. The Bears offense rankings are in or near the bottom in every category. However, they do lead the league in headset malfunctions.

 It saddens me that the Bears defense is no longer their calling card. You can’t put too much blame on them as most of the Cardinal scoring drives were from less than thirty yards out. Break downs and tackling are two consistent problems. With the exception of Detroit, they are allowing 30 points per game. In years past, they were able to make opponents settle for field goals which they did only twice against the Cardinals.

 As a glutton for punishment, I will still watch. It doesn’t matter if they win or lose, it’s all about the development of Justin Fields. Last week I said the Bears would not win another game this year. Then I see the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Detroit Lions. Can the Vikings be as bad as the Bears? Next up is nationally televised night game against Green Bay. The Bears are usually abysmal in prime time and are sure to lose. I don’t understand that NBC has the option to show another game and are staying with this stinker.