OK, That Was Pretty Good

Arizona crushed the Bears 48-23. I had felt reasonably confident they could beat Chicago, because I didn't think the Bears were very good, but I wasn't expecting a 25-point shellacking. It's their biggest win since they crushed the Colts by 30 two years ago.

David Johnson returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and Jay Cutler was knocked out of the game trying to prevent a pick-six. Well, credit for effort Catler. Chris Johnson ran for 72 yards in relief of the injured - what, again? - Andre Ellington, and Palmer threw for 4 TDs in only 24 passes.Fitzgerald caught 4 of the touchdowns, and 8 passes overall, for 112 yards.

I hadn't realized until I read something about it recently that Michael Floyd seemed to be falling out of favor, but it's starting to look credible. He had no receptions, and was only targeted once. I don't know if he's hurt, disinterested, or Palmer simply doesn't trust him, but it's not looking good for him.

The game seems like it could have gone either way. Cutler was 8-for-9 for 120 yards and a TD before the interception. Him getting knocked out meant the Cards got to feast on Jimmy Clausen, who was predictably poor, and load up to keep Forte under wraps (61 yards, 27 of those on one carry). On the other hand, the Bears fumbled three times and recovered all of them, which is a little lucky. So it could have been even worse.

Thanks to the Niners, Seahawks and Rams all losing, the Cardinals sit alone in first place, a feat that would be much more impressive if it weren't Week 2. Wait, The Rams lost to Washington? Jeff Fisher must truly want to troll the Washington fans by letting them talk themselves into Kirk Cousins.

As for baseball, the Cardinals have clinched at least a playoff spot. They swept the Brewers, with Matt Carpenter and Tommy Pham doing almost all the hitting, and John Lackey and especially Carlos Martinez looking dominant. Then they promptly lost 2 of 3 to the Cubs again. This is starting to get concerning. Lynn hasn't looked good since at least when he sprained his ankle against the Giants, and Wacha's pitched poorly against the Cubs the last two tries. The essential problems are, one, the Cubs have enough good players Maddon can adjust his lineups to play matchups against starting pitchers with platoon splits, two, Joe Maddon is smart enough to actual do that, and three, the Cardinals' offense lacks the firepower necessary to compensate when their pitchers get hammered. It isn't even a matter of the Cubs having Arrietta and Lester, though those two are concerning. The Cubs went with a bullpen start on Saturday, and still won, because the Cubs got to Wacha, who walked too damn many guys.

I had told myself I wouldn't worry about the Cubs until/unless they passed the Pirates, and they still haven't done that. But the Cards have played Chicago more recently, so it seemed worth discussing. At this point, Pittsburgh is still the primary external concern, since they're the one with the best chance of actually taking the division away from St. Louis at the moment.