So the Cardinals might just be who we thought they were.

Fourteen games into the schedule, they have just three wins – and yes, that might've been the ballpark in which they had been predicted. But they also seem to be trending the right way, with Kyler Murray getting more comfortable in the offense, Jonathan Gannon keeping a team focused even when the record might've had it go sideways, and Monti Ossenfort already deep in draft meetings ready for his first full offseason.

They get the Bears Sunday, another installment of the NFL's oldest rivalry – their first meeting was on Nov. 28, 1920, 72 days after the NFL (then called the American Professional Football Association, until a 1922 name change) came to be, when the Racine Cardinals beat the Decatur Staleys, 7-6. The Bears are going to end up with the top pick in the draft, since they own Carolina's. They are trying to figure out if Justin Fields is their QB, or if it makes sense to take a Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. So yes, the Bears too might be who we thought they were.

(Sorry, I have to make the reference. It's Cardinals-Bears. It's a must. And I'll do it again next season when the Bears visit State Farm Stadium.)

But for whatever the Bears are trying to do to figure out their present and future, the Cardinals have to focus on themselves. Kyler Murray had a good game in Chicago two years ago; so too did James Conner. It would be a merry Christmas Eve if the Cardinals can go to Chicago and pull out a win, especially since with the late kickoff the majority of the game will be played after sundown in what could be a similar backdrop as Pittsburgh.

We're in the home stretch.

-- Stat of the week: Kyler Murray has played quarterback for the Cardinals for more games (62) than Kurt Warner (61) or Carson Palmer (60).

It's going to take me a minute to wrap my head around that one, tbh.

-- Murray was asked about what Fields is going through, and if he can relate.

"I don't know as far as if it's unwarranted or warranted or what's going on over there. I don't know," Murray said. "I think when you're not winning, everybody wants to look for the next thing, but the guys in the locker room— I saw something this week, so those guys I think they believe in him. That's really all you can ask for (that) the guys that you're going to war with believe in you.

"Again, for him, I'm sure he's trying to prove himself every time he touches the field. In this profession, football, basketball, baseball—it doesn't matter they're trying to replace you in a sense. It's on you to make them realize or make them understand what type of player you are and that they've got something in you."

Murray noted that "I dealt with the whole thing last year" but said he doesn't feel that way right now. Indeed, as I have written before, it seems that Murray will be the Cardinals QB next season as the team builds around him.

-- Wide receiver Hollywood Brown is not playing this week after trying the last few games to play with his bad heel with little or no success. Receivers coach Drew Terrell said he tries to be an "ear" for Brown when his wideout is frustrated.

"It is tough," Terrell said. "It's no secret that he's in a contract year and has a nagging injury that he has been dealing with. Anytime someone is in a contract year, they want to have the best season of their career. It is what it is. It's the truth of the business we are in. But he has been good. His mentality every day has been extremely positive. He's put himself in position to play every week. I've got nothing negative to say about Hollywood. He's been awesome."

Uniform update: RED ON THE ROAD. Merry Christmas. The Bears are going with their 1936 throwbacks for this game, so the Cardinals are breaking out the all-red look they had only previously worn on the road once, Week 1 in Washington. 

-- Two weeks, two No. 1 rushing defenses to play against for the Cardinals. They did a number on the 49ers' top-ranked rush defense last week, piling up 234 yards. The Bears, who allow 79.8 yards rushing a game, allowed only 29 rush yards to the Browns last week. The way Conner is playing, however, if this game is close, I expect the Cardinals to do ground damage. The 49ers had gone 104 straight games – since 2017 – without allowing 200 yards rushing until the Cards got it done.

-- The top offensive player for the Cardinals right now is tight end Trey McBride. The Bears have allowed the fourth-most receptions to tight ends in the league, and Cleveland's David Njoku went 10-104-1 against them, which would seem to favor the Cardinals quite nicely.

-- McBride is up to 712 yards receiving on his 66 receptions, making him only the second tight end in franchise history with at least 700 yards. Jackie Smith did it three times.

-- With Geoff Swaim on IR and Zach Ertz long gone, the tight end room features three rookies and McBride – who is only in his second season.

"Quickly I became the oldest man in the room and that's cool," McBride said. "It's nice to have these guys look up to me to help them out and give them any bit of advice I have for them."

-- The Cardinals have talked about their sack-less streak of three games this week. The Bears have benefited big from the trade (and extension) for their own high-profile edge guy, Montez Sweat. Sweat, who had 1½ sacks against the Cardinals in Week 1 when playing for the Commanders, has helped spearhead a defensive renaissance for Chicago. Since he arrived six games ago, the Bears are allowing just 18.5 points a game (down from 27.3), about 100 less passing yards and have 14 takeaways, which is tied for first in the NFL in that timeframe.

-- The Cardinals defense will have to deal with Fields, who can turn a broken play into a backbreaker with his running skills. Which leads us to the last word of this column, which comes from Budda Baker (who had multiple good quotes this week, including talking about being sick last game.) Baker was asked, if as a defensive back, it was exciting to take on the challenge of the mobile Fields:

"No. It's not exciting. I'm a defensive back, I'll be in the back … and I'm looking at this guy scrambling around. I don't like going against scrambling quarterbacks. It could be third-down-and-10 and we know it's a passing situation and we're thinking the ball is going to come out and he'll scramble for 40 or 50 yards. Being in coverage for eight seconds, and seeing the quarterback scramble, and you got to try and tackle the quarterback.

"Justin Fields does a great job of sliding, but he also can run DBs over. Me as a safety, seeing him run full speed at me, me trying to tackle, and then he slides. That's the worst thing. You never know if he's going to slide, or dip his shoulder, or if he's going to try and shake you."

See you Sunday. Happy holidays everyone.