Your starting defense holding the Cardinals' offense to 14 points was cause for champagne toasting, chest beating and horn blowing.
One year ago.
But this was not the same Cardinals offense that hung 51 on the Packers in the playoffs last season. Missing from that offense were Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
Register with Chicago Tribune and receive free newsletters and alerts >>
So what the Bears' defense "accomplished" on Saturday has a different feel.
In addition to having Derek Anderson fed to them, the Bears also were playing a team that is road-weary, as the Cardinals played the Titans five days ago and stayed in Tennessee.
It is not unreasonable to be concerned, therefore, that it took seven Bears defenders to bring down the Cardinals' third-string running back after a 9-yard gain.
Or that the Bears allowed the Cardinals to complete 53 percent of their third-down opportunities. For the preseason, the Bears have allowed a 47 percent third-down conversion rate.
Anderson, the Cardinals' third choice to play quarterback after the retired Warner and the benched Matt Leinart, did not exactly make them forget about Warner or bury Leinart on the depth chart. In just under two quarters of play, he completed 7 of 12 passes for 94 yards and a 111.1 passer rating.
For reference, you should know that the last time the Bears' defense saw Anderson, then with the Browns, they intercepted him twice and limited him to 76 passing yards and a 10.5 passer rating before he was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Brady Quinn.
It's true the Bears were without Brian Urlacher and Nick Roach, and then Lance Briggs for most of the game. That's like a baseball team without its starting outfield. So we should not be jumping off any skyscrapers today.
Anderson really had only one moment Saturday, or more accurately, one drive. Anderson led the Cardinals 72 yards on 10 plays in a drive that culminated with a 27-yard touchdown pass. What was remarkable about the drive is the Bears allowed two conversions of third-and-8 and another of third-and-7.
On the possession, Stephen Williams had three catches for 34 yards, a touchdown and two third-down conversions. Getting diced by the Pro Bowler Fitzgerald is one thing. Getting diced by Williams is another. Williams, for your files, is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Toledo.
Third downs killed the Bears last year, and it looks like they have not plugged that leak. On a third-quarter drive, Leinart found receiver Steve Breaston on third-and-13 for a touchdown. "Third-and-longs, you should win third-and-longs," coach Lovie Smith said.
What's happening on third-and-longs? Safety Chris Harris said a number of times opponents have hit their checkdown passes and Bears defenders aren't closing fast enough or well enough.
Harris was supposed to upgrade the Bears' nickel defense, but he didn't do that Saturday. He confessed to missing three tackles, and he also had a hand in both Cardinals touchdowns. He took a bad angle on the first, and Breaston jumped over him on the second.
"We gave up 14 points," Harris said. "Most of the time we're happy about that. But it should have been field goals."
The Bears' defense did offer some sources of encouragement.
Tommie Harris looked the best he has this year. In fact, he might have looked the best he has looked in a few years. Now let's see if he can do it next week. Or more importantly, in two weeks.
Danieal Manning might have laid claim to a starting job on opening day with a forced fumble in the red zone and a team-leading seven tackles. This team really needed a safety to step up, and Manning did.
Peppers continued to look like a different animal from everyone else on the field. He played a reverse wonderfully, which resulted in a loss of 3 yards, and came up with a sack.
"I feel like it was improvement from last week," Peppers said. "So that's a positive."
There should have been improvement. There should have been more than there was.
Unfortunately, there aren't many Andersons on the Bears' schedule in the regular season. There are Favres and Bradys and Romos, oh my!
