What in the Hell Did I Just Watch?

The only way to describe the game I saw tonight is that it was the greatest horrible football game I've ever seen.

Just look at the stats:

Matt Leinart - 232 yards, 2 touchdowns

Rex Grossman - 148 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions

Anquan Boldin - 12 catches, 136 yards, 1 touchdown

Bernard Berrian - 2 catches, 31 yards

Arizona Cardinals - 220 yards of total offense

Chicago Bears - 168 yards of total offense

Cardinals offense - 23 points

Bears offense - 3 points

Somehow, in spite all of that, the Bears won and are the only 6-0 team in the NFL right now. I have absolutely no idea what to say. From the standpoint of a Bears fan, I'm learning it's possible to be disgusted/elated/optimistic all at the same time.

Sure it was ugly as hell, and Rex Grossman played what was probably one of the worst games I've ever seen a quarterback play. Keep in mind that when I say that, I had to watch Kyle Orton last season. Grossman threw four idiotic interceptions and I was screaming at the TV hoping that the Bears coaches could hear me,

"Run the fucking ball God dammit!!! Run Bears, Run!!!!!!!"

They wouldn't listen. For some reason they kept having Rex drop back and fling the ball downfield despite the fact he was having a horrible day. His passes were off the mark, he had no time, he kept forcing the long ball when it wasn't needed.

Of course, a lot of the credit has to go to the Cardinals' defense. They played a terrific game. It's quite obvious that all the talk all week about how the Bears were going to steamroll (I being one of those who pictured a 38-10 victory coming) the Cardinals really lit a fire in Arizona.

Still, when after what seemed like five minutes it was 20-0 Cardinals, I was pretty damn shocked, as I'm sure everybody was who watched this game. They showed Ashton Kutcher in a skybox with Demi Moore, and immediately I started thinking that sometime soon he was gonna come running out on the field and tell us that we'd all been Punk'd.

He never did, and Rex kept giving the ball to Arizona.

Despite that, I can't hide the fact I'm ecstatic about this win. Hell yes, it was ugly, hell no, it shouldn't have been that close, but did any of you really believe this Bears team was going to go 16-0, winning every game by 30?

The fact that we were able to overcome such a deficit, so late, is amazing. I mean, this is the first time in NFL history a team has overcome such a large deficit without an offensive touchdown. Think about that.

NFL history.

This league has been around for a while.

Trailing 23-3 with 7 seconds left in the third quarter, Mark Anderson completely blindsided Leinart as he dropped back to pass. Leinart fumbled the ball into the waiting hands of Mike Brown. Brown, who just always seems to be getting into the end zone, did it again, walking 5 yards in to make it 23-10.

It was then when I started to get a weird feeling. The Bears were going to win this damn game.

Of course, then the offense went out and convinced me otherwise. On a fourth down Grossman threw a pass that was tipped and intercepted by Bertrand Berry who took off for the end zone to make it 30-10.

Okay, game over.

Then a replay showed Berry's knee hit the ground, and that feeling came back.

All of a sudden Brian Urlacher was everywhere on defense. No matter if the Cardinals ran right, left, up the middle or threw the ball, #54 was making the tackle. So when Edgerrin James ran into a human wall I wasn't surprised to see Urlacher reach in and rip the ball from his hands.

Nor was I surprised to see Charles Tillman pick it up and take it 40 yards to the end zone.

Cardinals 23 Bears 17

Now the feeling was really getting strong. I felt we had this game in the bag.

Three plays later the Cardinals were punting, and I said a l'il prayer asking Devin Hester to just end it now and give the Bears a lead.

Hester took two steps and right then, I knew he was gone. A few moves, a juked punter, and 83 yards later Hester reached the end zone.

Bears 24 Cardinals 23

The Bears offense hadn't been on the field for nearly 8 minutes, and yet the Bears had closed a 13 point gap to take the lead.

There was one problem, though. The Cardinals were getting the ball back, had plenty of time and timeouts. Also, like I just said, the Bears defense had been on the field for about eight minutes and was no doubt tired.

Then there was the fact that watching Matt Leinart march downfield with the game on the line to beat my team was nothing new to me. I had to watch him do it in South Bend a year and a day before to beat my Irish as Reggie Bush pushed him into the end zone to give USC the victory.

But I still had that feeling. This was going to work out fine.

Of course the Cardinals marched right down field and set up Neil Rackers (I-L-L!) to win the game for Arizona. It was a 41 yard attempt for Rackers, and he hadn't missed a field goal under 50 yards yet this season.

He missed this one.

Before the kick Tony Kornheiser remarked how you knew Rackers was a Cardinal cuz Monday nights are date night with his wife. How pissed off must she be right now? Not only did he cancel their date for the game, but then he went out and blew a chance to win it.

So finally after what seemed like 4 days, not 4 quarters, the Bears left the field victorious. They have a bye next week, and after a game like that, they need it.

What I can't imagine right now, is what it's like to be a Cardinals fan. Head coach Dennis Green exploded after the game, yelling and kicking the podium.

"The Bears are who we thought they were! Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their ass! But they are who they thought they were! And we let them off the hook!"

-Dennis Green

Green then stormed away.

I imagine that's probably how Cardinals fans feel after seeing their team blow a game for the second consecutive week.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. If America learned anything tonight it's that the Bears aren't the greatest team in the history of the world, and that Matt Leinart is going to be one hell of an NFL quarterback.

He's the best one I've seen the Bears play against this year, and that includes Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck was lost against the Bears a few weeks ago, while the rookie Leinart never seemed to lose his composure. Neither had a running game to support them. Edgerrin James actually set an NFL record in this game by having the least amount of yards (55) for somebody with as many carries (36) in a single game. Hell, Leinart led his team on the game winning drive, but Rackers didn't finish the story for him.

I think it's pretty safe to say that the Cardinals aren't going to recover from this one, not this season anyway. The Bears meanwhile got a wake up call that will probably serve them well for the rest of this season.

If they want to wear the crown Dennis Green spoke of, they can't come out and take a team lightly like they did tonight. Every game is important, and every team is an obstacle to overcome.

The Bears proved tonight that they can overcome just about anything in their way.