THE STORY: The PT Cruiser shot down the sideline, incredibly with no one in front of him, on the play that changed the game.
"I made that choice I was going to score," said running back Emari Demercado, who earned the nickname of the old school Chrysler car for reasons only known to his position room.
The Cardinals were looking for a field goal in the waning seconds of the first half Sunday at State Farm Stadium. That's all Demercado was trying to do, give kicker Chad Ryland a few more yards. Suddenly, he had a 53-yard touchdown, breaking the Bears.
"I think they were kind of deflated after that moment," Demercado added, after the Cardinals took a 21-9 halftime lead on the way to a 29-9 pounding of Chicago.
The Cardinals (5-4), coupled with the 49ers bye and the Seahawks' loss to the Rams, are alone in first place in the NFC West. They got there with an old-school whipping of the Bears (4-4), grinding Chicago's defense with 213 rushing yards and making life miserable for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, sacking him six times.
A week after the passing games shined in Miami, the Cardinals went back to their blunt force trauma of an offense. James Conner ran for 107 yards on only 18 carries. Demercado, the PT Cruiser, had his spectacular run. Trey Benson also rushed for a touchdown on his 37-yard day and added an 18-yard reception. Even tight end Trey McBride chipped in with a two-yard touchdown run.
(Although Conner noted, McBride will not be considered a running back.)
"Not too many times when I've been able to play a game like that, to play the way I feel I played, not up to my standard, and be able to win the way we did," quarterback Kyler Murray said. "It was a hell of an effort by the whole team. The defense did their thing, and to run the ball the way we did was great."
Murray only completed 13 of 20 passes for 154 yards. It was fine, although a couple of plays to Marvin Harrison Jr. stuck – one was a 21-yard completion to Harrison which Harrison fumbled after the catch, another back shoulder throw later in the game in which Harrison looked like he made a great catch but the ball was jarred loose on a better play by cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
Yet the Cardinals had no need for Murray heroics. The rest of the roster made sure of that.
Murray smiled when asked about Demercado's TD run. The Cardinals were only looking for about five more yards for the field goal. They got so much more.
"I looked down and saw him running and I looked up at the clock and thought, 'He's got it. We'll be good,'" guard Evan Brown said. "I was like, 'If he can't get 40 yards in eight seconds we might need a new back in there.'"
That TD was all that was needed, as the Cardinals harassed Williams constantly and the defense did not allow a touchdown for the second time in three games.
Williams didn't turn the ball over, but aside from a 44-pass to Rome Odunze – who was open only because of a blown coverage – he never came close to causing the Cardinals problems. The Bears had only 69 yards rushing.
"I knew we were going to have a breakout game defensively, as far as getting to the quarterback," linebacker Kyzir White said. "That was the emphasis all week, really making him uncomfortable."
The Cardinals have won three straight and host the 3-6 Jets next week before reaching their bye. While Jonathan Gannon continues to preach "the next game" over everything else, even the coach exuded the optimism of what his team has put together over the past month.
"The confidence of executing at a high level and making a bunch of plays within the team, that does carry over," Gannon said. "I think we're starting to get to that point where they know if we … they've always known this but they're doing it. They're playing, they're making plays, they're connected."
The Cardinals got that everywhere Sunday, including from the PT Cruiser and the rest of the running back fleet.
"I just love watching them be explosive, impacting the game," Conner said. "That's what we talk about. Impact the game someway, somehow."
TURNING POINT: There was no other answer than Demercado's run. The Bears got a field goal with 26 seconds left in the half to pull within five; there was no reason the Cardinals should've gotten points out of their final drive. But Demercado started the drive with a 12-yard catch, and after a McBride 5-yard catch and an incompletion, Demercado delivered the backbreaker.
THE STANDOUTS: On offense, it was the entire running backs room. But in a game like this, there were plenty of plaudits to go around. Special teams continued its excellence, beyond Ryland. Joey Blount had a highlight downing of a punt inside the 1, leading to a safety. Greg Dortch had a season-high 27-yard punt return to set up a touchdown. And on defense, Zaven Collins had two sacks to lead a parade of impressive games, including Budda Baker with a 12-tackle game and Xavier Thomas with the first 1.5 sacks of his NFL career.
CARDINALS STAY HEALTHY: The Cardinals had a pair of players leave the game after going down, but both running back DeeJay Dallas – a key special teams player – and defensive lineman L.J. Collier – who "ran" off the field hopping after hurting his leg right before halftime – both returned to play.
Gannon said cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who turned out to be a late inactive, was still dealing with his neck issue but wanted to play. The Cardinals played it safe and held him out.
