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As the Bears prepare to face the Cardinals, here’s everything you need to know about Sunday’s matchup.
The Chicago Bears (4-7) will host the top-ranked Arizona Cardinals (9-2) on Sunday, where Chicago will be looking to build on its Thanksgiving win. But it’s going to be a huge challenge against a loaded Cardinals team.
The Bears will be without some key starters against Arizona, who is getting back Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins this week. This is a game that could get ugly real quick.
Here’s everything to know about the Bears-Cardinals’ Week 13 matchup:
Does Chicago stand a chance to pull off an upset over Arizona in Week 13? Our Bears Wire staff shares their predictions for Sunday’s game.
The Chicago Bears (4-7) will host the Arizona Cardinals (9-2) on Sunday, where Chicago will have to contend with one of the best teams in the NFL just as they’re getting Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins back.
The Bears are coming off a narrow victory over the winless Detroit Lions (0-10-1), which did nothing to inspire confidence about this team moving forward. Even as they remain in the thick of the wild-card race.
Does Chicago stand a chance to pull off an upset over Arizona in Week 13? Our Bears Wire staff shares their predictions for Sunday’s game.
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Here’s the Bears’ injury report from Thursday’s practice, where Justin Fields remained limited and Cole Kmet returned to practice.
The Chicago Bears released their second injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, which looked pretty similar to Wednesday’s report with an exception.
There are a slew of starters on the injury report, including quarterback Justin Fields, receiver Allen Robinson, defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and tight end Cole Kmet, among others.
Here’s a look at the full injury report from Thursday’s practice:
Here’s a look at Bears rookie QB Justin Fields, who returned to practice on Wednesday in a limited fashion.
As the Chicago Bears prepare to face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, one of the big questions involves the status of rookie quarterback Justin Fields, who is nursing a rib injury.
Fields suffered cracked ribs in a Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, an injury that sidelined Fields for Chicago’s Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions.
There was encouraging news about Fields’ status for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals as Fields returned to practice Wednesday, although in limited fashion as Andy Dalton took starters reps in his place.
According to the Chicago Tribune‘s Dan Wiederer, Fields “looked better than I expected him to be” during the portion of practice open to the media. Wiederer said Fields “was moving around well and delivering the ball with normal zip.”
During the brief portion of practice that was open to the media today, Bears QB Justin Fields looked better than I expected him to. Was moving around well and delivering the ball with normal zip. We’ll see how the week evolves.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) December 1, 2021
Justin Fields practiced today, albeit limited. Andy Dalton what is taking the first team reps. #Bears. pic.twitter.com/ZW4YBURuxi
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) December 1, 2021
But Fields is far from in the clear for Sunday’s matchup, especially given the Bears will be facing a Cardinals defense that’s among the top pass rushes in the NFL.
If Fields isn’t 100 percent, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chicago play it safe and roll with Dalton for a second straight week.
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Here’s the Bears’ injury report from Wednesday’s practice, where there were several Bears starters who didn’t participate.
The Chicago Bears released their first injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, which featured a slew of key starters who didn’t participate in practice on Wednesday.
There were some familiar names on the injury report, including defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and wide receiver Allen Robinson, as well as some new names, including tight end Cole Kmet.
Here’s a look at the full injury report from Wednesday’s practice:
There’s some encouraging news about the status of Bears QB Justin Fields (ribs), as Matt Nagy said Fields will return to practice Wednesday.
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Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields suffered a rib injury in a Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which sidelined the rookie for one week. But there’s an encouraging sign that Fields could make his return to the starting lineup.
Bears head coach Matt Nagy met with the media ahead of Wednesday’s practice, where he confirmed Fields will return to practice.
The distinction of limited or full participation was unclear until Nagy revealed that backup quarterback Andy Dalton will take starter reps during Wednesday’s practice, an indication that Fields will be a limited participant.
Nagy also says Andy Dalton will take the starters reps in practice today, so that's a strong indication Fields is still limited. https://t.co/fYRPsrFTjI
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 1, 2021
Fields suffered cracked ribs in that loss to the Ravens, which caused him to miss Chicago’s Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions. Still, the prognosis was positive as it was believed Fields wouldn’t miss too much time before returning.
Nagy also confirmed that linebacker Roquan Smith won’t practice Wednesday, which isn’t too much of a surprise after he suffered a hamstring injury last Thursday against the Lions.
We’ll know the full extent of Fields and other players when the Bears release their first injury report of the week ahead of Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.
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The Cardinals have a ton of talent on their roster, from Kyler Murray to DeAndre Hopkins. Which player would you want to steal for Bears?
The Chicago Bears (4-7) will host the Arizona Cardinals (9-2) on Sunday, where Chicago will be looking to upset Arizona to keep in the thick of the NFC wild-card race.
The Bears are coming off a narrow Thanksgiving victory over the winless Detroit Lions amid rumors and speculation about head coach Matt Nagy’s future. Still, they needed a last-second field goal by Cairo Santos to beat the worst team in the NFL, which isn’t exactly encouraging. The Bears are also banged up with quarterback Justin Fields still on the mend and linebacker Roquan Smith nursing a hamstring injury on top of injuries to defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and receiver Allen Robinson.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are coming off a bye week, where they’re well-rested ahead of this matchup. Quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins are also expected to make their returns in this contest, which isn’t encouraging for a Chicago defense that could be down Smith and Hicks.
The Bears are early 7.5-point home underdogs against the Cardinals, according to Tipico Sportsbook. Which isn’t really a shock considering Arizona is the NFC’s top-ranked team and Chicago narrowly avoided losing to the Lions.
If the Bears hope to upset Arizona, there’s going to have to contend with a ton of talent on their roster, from Murray to Hopkins to outside linebacker Chandler Jones.
Which Cardinals player would you want to steal for the Bears?
VOTE!
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The Bears have opened as 7.5-point home underdogs against the Cardinals, per Tipico.
The Chicago Bears will host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, where they’ll be looking to remain in the thick of the postseason hunt with an upset win.
The Bears have opened as 7.5-point home underdogs against the Cardinals, according to Tipico Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 44.5 points.
It’s not a surprise that the Bears are underdogs considering they’re about to go up against one of the best teams in the NFL who are about to get quarterback Kyler Murray and receiver DeAndre Hopkins back in the lineup for this game.
Chicago has been underdogs eight other times this season against the Rams, Browns, Raiders, Packers, Bucs, 49ers, Steelers and Ravens. The Bears have been favorites in Week 2 against the Bengals, Week 4 against the Lions and Week 12 against the Lions this season, all wins.
Can the Bears win two games in a row with an upset over the Cardinals? Or will Arizona send Chicago to yet another loss ahead of a prime-time showdown against the Green Bay Packers? We’ll see when the Bears and Cardinals kick things off Sunday at Noon on FOX.
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Three years ago, the Bears completed a comeback against Cardinals to secure Matt Nagy’s first road victory of his career.
Every Thursday throughout the 2021 regular season, Bears Wire will take a look back at some of the most memorable moments in Chicago Bears history that occurred on or near that given day.
When you think about the Chicago Bears executing a comeback in Arizona against the Cardinals, your mind probably goes straight to 2006, and rightfully so. It was a legendary comeback in a historic season for the Bears. But on this day three years ago, the Bears executed yet another, albeit not as exciting, comeback against the Cardinals to start the season 2-1.
Like 2006, this game started ugly for the Bears. The Cardinals, led by Sam Bradford in what would be the final start of his career, drove his team down the field and threw a touchdown pass to a wide open Ricky Seals-Jones to give the Cardinals the early lead.
The Bears missed a field goal by Cody Parkey on their opening drive and a fumble by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky led to another Cardinal touchdown. Bradford found running back David Johnson for the score, putting the Cardinals up 14-0 after the first quarter. It looked like a blowout in the making.
The Bears found some yards, but didn’t do much in the second quarter in terms of points. They mustered a field goal to make it a 14-3 ballgame at halftime. It seemed as if a winless Cardinals team was about to boat race the Bears for their first victory. But thing quickly turned around.
On Arizona’s first drive of the half, Bradford threw a pick to safety Eddie Jackson, setting up the Bears for a touchdown drive to cut the lead to 4 points. Another interception on the Cardinals ensuing drive led to a field goal and suddenly it was 14-13 entering the fourth quarter. Bradford committed yet another turnover, this time a fumble thanks to a sack from outside linebacker Khalil Mack. It set up the go-ahead field goal from Parkey to make it 16-14.
The Cardinals entered desperation mode and removed Bradford for rookie Josh Rosen to try and mount a comeback with under five minutes remaining in the game. Instead, he threw an interception to cornerback Bryce Callahan, sealing the win for the Bears.
It’s not the 2006 game but it was a fun comeback victory in Nagy’s first season. Both teams meet again this year for the first time since this game.
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