Khalil Herbert and Justin Fields run all over Arizona Cardinals in Chicago Bears win: ‘There were like highways out there’

The Arizona Cardinals’ rushing defense stats this season foretold what kind of game it might be for the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field, and the first offensive play confirmed it.

Bears quarterback Justin Fields handed off the ball to Khalil Herbert, who shot through a huge hole up the left hash for a 13-yard gain, his longest since before he suffered an ankle injury in early October.

“After I tossed the ball or handed the ball off, Khalil had a lot of space to run,” Fields said. “There were like highways out there.”

Herbert rushed for a season-high 112 yards and the Bears totaled 250 on the ground to fuel a 27-16 victory over the Cardinals, who entered the game with the 31st-ranked run defense. Fields added 97 yards on nine carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run, to help the Bears bounce back from a second-half collapse against the Cleveland Browns in Week 15.

It was a big day for Herbert, who hadn’t totaled more than 35 rushing yards in a game since coming back from a sprained ankle Nov. 19. Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Friday that he had seen Herbert’s burst return in practice, and he expected bigger things from him against the Cardinals.

Herbert delivered, including breaking toward the left sideline and beating four Cardinals defenders to the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown run — and a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.

Herbert said the Bears were motivated by a rough offensive performance against the Browns.

“The big boys did a great job up front today opening up some holes,” Herbert said. “Last week we took it personally not being able to run the ball. We came in this week focused on the details and were able to capitalize.”

Herbert credited the offensive line multiple times, saying, “They made it easy for me.”

“It was just communication, talk to each other, be on the same page. And just playing hard,” right guard Nate Davis said. “We definitely took the right step to get to where we want to be as an O-line. Today was a good day for us.”

Herbert and Roschon Johnson got the work at running back Sunday with D’Onta Foreman out for personal reasons.

Meanwhile, Fields indicated he figured he could have a better day on the ground than he did against the Browns, when he rushed for 30 yards.

“(The Cardinals) don’t have the fastest D-linemen, so I knew I would be able to extend plays and stuff like that,” Fields said. “I told the O-line, we don’t have to hold them. If they break free, they’re not as fast as Myles Garrett, the guys we played last week.”

In the ongoing debate about whether Fields is the Bears’ quarterback of the future, Fields likely didn’t sway either side that already has its position set.

While playing most of the game with his top two targets hurt, Fields completed 15 of 27 passes for 170 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis.

Tight end Cole Kmet had four catches for 107 yards before missing the second half with a knee injury. Wide receiver DJ Moore had three catches for 18 yards after tweaking a prior right ankle injury but still played most of the game.

“You just play to play. You can’t let who’s out there affect you,” Fields said of Kmet and Moore getting hurt. “You just have to go through your reads — boom, boom, boom — and if it’s not there, it’s not there. Scramble around and make a play. I would love to have those guys out there, but it’s football. You’re probably going to get hurt at one point.”

Fields also had a fourth-quarter interception that put the Cardinals in position to start a comeback down 24-10. Safety Jalen Thompson saw the pass to Herbert in the end zone coming and dropped off to grab the football high out of the air.

The Cardinals capitalized with Kyler Murray’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Greg Dortch, which after the two-point conversion failed cut the Bears’ lead to 24-16.

The Bears went three-and-out on their next drive, giving the Cardinals an opportunity to tie the game. But the defense came up with a stop when Murray’s pass to Dortch fell incomplete on fourth-and-6.

Bears kicker Cairo Santos, who signed a four-year, $16 million contract extension Saturday, made a 29-yard field goal with 1 minute, 2 seconds to play to seal the win.

Fields was asked whether the type of game he had — throwing for nearly 200 yards, rushing for almost 100 — was sustainable for a winning team.

“I’m cool with whatever as long as we win the game,” Fields said. “So shoot, if I have 100 passing yards with zero touchdowns and we get the win, I’m cool with that. People love stats and say, “He only did dah, dah, dah, dah, dah,’ I don’t care, we won the game. As long as we win, I’m not really a numbers guy. All I know is one went up in the win column today, and that’s all I care about.”

However, Fields did say he wanted the Bears to produce more in the second half, when the Cardinals held them to two Santos field goals. That lull made the game feel closer than it should have been.

Fields said he thought the Bears could have scored 35 or 40 points.

“It’s not more about (offensive coordinator Luke Getsy) or the play-calling,” Fields said. “It’s about us bringing the plays to life and us executing the plays we get. We have them in there for a reason. We trust our coaches, and we trust each other. It’s about us taking each play at a time and really just executing. 21-0, you’ve got to have that mindset that it’s 0-0 at the start of the game.”