The last time R.W. McQuarters faced an opponent’s elite wide receiver while trying to protect a fourth-quarter lead at Soldier Field (two weeks ago Sunday against the St. Louis Rams’ Torry Holt), he gave up a key 21-yard catch that kept alive a game-winning drive.
This time, with the Bears leading the Arizona Cardinals 7-3 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, neither that failure nor any chance of another one crossed McQuarters’ mind as he lined up across from NFL rookie-of-the-year candidate Anquan Boldin.
“I don’t worry about all that other stuff, man,” McQuarters said after the Bears’ 28-3 romp over the Cardinals. “People ask about me going in the tank this season after [losing his starting job]. Well, I don’t even know what the tank is.”
The Cardinals might have a good idea. They spent the fourth quarter there during a 21-point Bears outburst that began with McQuarters’ interception.
With 14 minutes 47 seconds left, Cardinals quarterback Jeff Blake overthrew Boldin, and McQuarters leaped high to pick it off at the Cardinals’ 41. His 29-yard return down the Arizona sideline set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kordell Stewart to Dez White two plays later.
Asked if he thought that turnover changed the game, McQuarters smiled and said, “I think it did.”
His teammates remain convinced that it may have changed their season too. The team’s most lopsided win in two seasons revived locker-room discussion of NFC playoff scenarios and divisional tiebreakers as the 5-7 Bears cling to the notion that they are two missed field goals out of first place. The Bears regained hope after the 7-5 Vikings lost Sunday and the 6-6 Packers fell on Thanksgiving, and they took care of business at home.
“We’re right back in this thing,” wide receiver Marty Booker said.
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Edited by Michael Kellams (mkellams@tribune.com)
