Who has the advantage in Cardinals-Bears?
The Arizona Cardinals face the Chicago Bears today on the road in Week 13. They are favored and likely have the advantage in many phases of the matchup.
Below, Allysa Barbieri of Bears Wire and I go over the situation at quarterback, the line of scrimmage, injuries, turnovers and situational football to determine who ultimately has the advantage in the game.
Read our thoughts and the final verdict below.
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Quarterback play
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Cards Wire: Kyler Murray returns, which is fantastic for the Cardinals. His play has been nothing short of MVP-caliber this season. He leads the NFL in completion percentage at 72.7% but also leads the NFL at 8.9 YPA, which is quite the accomplishment. He is making plays with throws at all levels.
Bears Wire: With Justin Fields sidelined with cracked ribs, Andy Dalton will make his second straight start for the Bears. Matt Nagy opened the passing game up with Dalton last week, where he threw for 300-plus yards, the first time in a year that happened for a Chicago quarterback, in a Thanksgiving victory over the winless Lions. Dalton’s quick release will be valuable against this dominant Cardinals pass rush. But, overall, the game plan won’t change much, as it hasn’t since the beginning of the season. The Bears will look to establish the run and then attempt to open up things downfield, where a talented Cardinals secondary awaits. Dalton, while he threw a end-zone interception last week, typically doesn’t make mistakes, and the Bears are going to need that from him against Arizona.
Advantage: Cardinals
Line of scrimmage
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Cards Wire: The offensive line has been solid. They are 10th in rushing yards per game and are tied for the second-most rushing touchdowns with 17. They “only” average 4.0 yards per attempt but have been solid. They have allowed 26 sacks this season but the passing game is still clicking.
Defensively, they are stout on the edge with Chandler Jones and Markus Golden but are vulnerable to the run, as statistically they are middle-of-the-road. They have, though, allowed only seven rushing touchdowns, the second-fewest in the league. They are third-to-last in yards per attempt allowed, but that usually doesn’t matter because teams have to try and pass the ball against them most of the time.
Bears Wire: The Bears have the second most sacks in the NFL with 32. Outside linebacker Robert Quinn is coming off a dominant November, where he had 5.5 sacks in three games – and that was without Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks. Chicago needs Quinn and the pass rush to step up in this game, but it won’t be easy against a good Cardinals offensive line. The Bears have struggled against the run, which is where they’re going to need guys like nose tackle Eddie Goldman and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols to step up in Hicks’ absence and facing a top-10 Cardinals run gamr. Chicago’s offensive line has been decent this season, but with Fields sidelined, they’re going to need to step up in pass protection with Dalton under center. The strength of the line this season has been in run blocking, and they’re going to need a strong outing to establish the run early with David Montgomery.
Advantage: Cardinals
Turnovers
(AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cards Wire: They are +8 in turnovers this season. They have forced 19 takeaways, 11 of which have been fumbles.
Bears Wire: Protecting the football on offense and taking the football away on defense have been points of emphasis for the Bears this season, and it’s something that’s been a struggle this season. The Bears have a -4 turnover differential through 12 weeks, where they have 11 takeaways and have turned the ball over 15 times. Trevis Gipson recovered a fumble in a Thanksgiving win against the Lions while Andy Dalton threw an interception in the end zone. As the Bears prepare to face the Cardinals, this is a game where Chicago can’t afford to make any mistakes to make things even worse against one of the best teams in the NFL.
Advantage: Cardinals
Situational
Rob Schumacher/The Republic-USA TODAY NETWORK
Cards Wire: Offensively, the Cardinals are seventh on third-down efficiency at 43.6%. They are tied for first on fourth-down efficiency on offense. They are third in third-down defense and second in fourth-down defense, even though no team has had more fourth downs attempted against them.
Arizona is third in red-zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns over 70% of the time. They are 14th in red zone defense.
Bears Wire: The Bears defense has been decent in the red zone this season, whether it’s holding teams to a field goal or forcing a turnover on downs. They’re allowing teams to score a touchdown on 56.41% of trips inside the red zone, which ranks 13th in the NFL. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the league’s worst offenses has struggled to convert red zone opportunities into touchdowns, as Chicago has scored a touchdown on 50% of trips inside the red zone, which ranks 28th. Third down conversions remain a struggle for the Bears offense, where they’ve converted just 33.59% of third downs, which ranks 30th in the NFL. Meanwhile, Chicago’s defense has done a decent job getting teams off the field on third down, allowing teams to convert on third down 40.29% of the time, which ranks 16th.
Verdict
Advantage: Cardinals
The Cardinals should have the advantage. They are the No. 1 seed in the NFC while the Bears are 4-7 and have lost five of their last six games.
This is a game the Cardinals should win and win convincingly.
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