Exhausted after making what seemed like every tackle in the second half Monday night, Brian Urlacher looked dazed and sounded confused.
Any reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year would have been after spending an entire second half practically ignored by the opposing offense.
“They didn’t block me,” Urlacher said, sounding as if he couldn’t believe it himself.
Even if the Cardinals had tried, the will with which Urlacher played would have made blocking him nearly impossible. But it’s inconceivable a team coached by supposed offensive wizard Dennis Green would leave Urlacher unaccounted for as often as the Cardinals did.
They were playing with two new starters on the offensive line, but that’s not really an excuse.
The stat sheet credited Urlacher with 19 tackles. Film review will take that total into the 20s. “He showed why he’s a superstar,” quarterback Rex Grossman said.
The morning after what is being referred to in Arizona as the “Monday Night Meltdown,” Dennis Green fired his offensive coordinator, Keith Rowen. The Cardinals’ offense committed two unforgivable turnovers but also made the Bears’ defense look as human as any team has this season early with an array of rollouts and play-action and short passes.
From afar, it seems the guy on the chopping block should have been special teams coach Gary Zauner or whoever decided to punt to Devin Hester with the Cardinals ahead by less than a touchdown and 2 minutes 58 seconds to play. Don’t the Cardinals watch film?
Thankfully for the Bears, punter Scott Player hung one directly to Hester instead of angling it out of bounds.
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BY THE NUMBERS
10.7
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Grossman’s passer rating was the lowest for a winning quarterback since Cowboys quarterback Drew Henson posted a 7.6 against the Bears on Thanksgiving Day in 2004.
36
Number of carries by Cardinals running back Edgerrin James
2I
Devin Hester tied a club record with his second punt return for a TD this season.
39
Bears running back Thomas Jones managed just 39 yards on 11 carries.
