Tag: Cardinals vs. Bears

The Arizona Cardinals had two turnovers in their 45-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. They lost by 16 points or two touchdowns. Without them, the game would have been more interesting.

Prior to last week’s game, they did not turn the ball over in the previous two games.

Taking care of the football will be a huge priority this weekend on the road against the Chicago Bears. The Bears have forced 14 turnovers in their last four games after only getting nine takeaways in their first 10.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon has made it the most important thing this week.

“I would say I don’t know if I can put much more emphasis on ball security,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “Knowing that this team, when they win the takeaway battle, I think they’re 4-0 and when they lose the takeaway battle, I think they’re one and something. Certain teams can overcome it, but that’s a winning stat for a reason. We lost it two nothing last game and you lose the game. We’ve overcome it at times, but our wins were typically in the positive with that so a huge emphasis and knowing that this team takes it away. That’s how they win games. They steal possessions and they stop possessions by taking it away. Those are big plays, momentum plays in a game that can be a turning point in a game, which we’ve got to do a really good job of.”

The Bears are actually 4-1 when winning the turnover battle. They are 0-6 when losing it.

Turnovers have not been as much of a “winning stat” for the Cardinals this year. They are 2-5 when their opponent has more turnovers than they do. They are 1-5 when they lose the turnover battle.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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The Arizona Cardinals’ offensive bread and butter has been the running game. They ran for 234 yards against the San Francisco 49ers last week.

However, facing the Chicago Bears, it will be a challenge.

The Bears are No. 1 in the NFL against the run.

They are first in the NFL in yards allowed, giving up only 79.8 rushing yards per game. They have allowed the third-fewest rushing touchdowns in the league (seven) and are third in rushing yards allowed per attempt (3.5 yards per attempt).

They have allowed over 100 rushing yards in only two of their last 11 games and both times were against the Detroit Lions. After Week 3, they have allowed 68.4 yards per game. Opponents have failed to reach 50 rushing yards four times.

Conversely, the Cardinals are seventh in the league in rushing at 131.8 yards per game. They are third in the league averaging 4.9 yards per rushing attempt.

James Conner leads the way with 717 rushing yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. But Emari Demercado has had big runs. So has Michael Carter.

Kyler Murray’s legs factor in.

The game might be decided on that. If the Cardinals can’t find success running the ball, they will likely struggle offensively and won’t be able to win. If they do find similar success running the ball as in previous weeks, it will be hard for Chicago to win.

Whose strength will be victorious on Sunday? We will find out in a few days.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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