BEARS at CARDINALS: Week 3 Pre-Gamin’ – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

Let’s take a moment to re-live the greatest football game ever played in Glendale, Arizona:

Now that we’ve got your blood pumping, let’s look toward a game we hope rivals the importance and greatness of that Bears-Cardinals game back in 2006.

The Bears have a lot at stake in Week 3. A win would make two-in-a-row. Not a big deal on the surface, but the Bears won consecutive games just three times in the three years of the John Fox era and haven’t won back-to-back September games since Weeks 2 and 3 in 2014. A victory in Arizona on Sunday would be a long time coming for a team that simply doesn’t have much success to fall back on in recent years.

As for what it means for the present, beating the Cardinals would put the Bears’ record above .500, which is a place it hasn’t been since 2014. And if Buffalo and Washington pull off respective upsets of Minnesota and Green Bay, Chicago could stake a claim to (at least a share) of first place for the first time since Week 3 of the 2014 season. So, yeah, I’d say today carries a little bit of significance.

Moving to 2-1 would be a small step for the Bears, but it could help the team take a huge leap into something bigger moving forward. I’m here for it, let’s go!

Game Info

Chicago Bears (1-1, 3rd NFC North) at Arizona Cardinals (0-2, 4th NFC West) – 3:25 CT, FOX, WBBM-AM 780, WCFS-FM 105.9

Odds: Bears (-6), Over/Under 39, via the Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas.

Game Thread and Week 3 Preview

The mid-afternoon start allowed Bears fans a chance to sleep in. Hope you took advantage of it. Anyway, your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun. And hopefully, we can keep the good times rolling.

Your Week 3 Preview lives here.

Coaches

Matt Nagy (1-1) vs. Steve Wilks (0-2)

Starting Quarterbacks

Bears: Mitch Trubisky

Last week: 25-34, 200 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 83.0 rating

versus

Cardinals: Sam Bradford

Last week: 17-27, 90 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 53.0 rating

Bears Inactives

#Bears Inactives at Cardinals

No. 31 Marcus Cooper Sr.
No. 36 DeAndre Houston-Carson
No. 47 Isaiah Irving
No. 49 Kylie Fitts
No. 69 Rashaad Coward
No. 83 Javon Wims
No. 97 Nick Williams#CHIvsAZ | #DaBears⁠ ⁠

— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) September 23, 2018

Bears Expected Offensive Starters

QB Mitch Trubisky

RB Jordan Howard

FB Michael Burton

WR Allen Robinson

WR Taylor Gabriel

TE Trey Burton

LT Charles Leno Jr.

LG Eric Kush

C Cody Whitehair

RG Kyle Long

RT Bobby Massie

Bears Expected Defensive Starters

DT Akiem Hicks

NT Eddie Goldman

DE Jonathan Bullard

OLB Khalil Mack

ILB Danny Trevathan

ILB Roquan Smith

OLB Leonard Floyd

CB Kyle Fuller

CB Prince Amukamara

FS Eddie Jackson

SS Adrian Amos

Bears Specialists

Cody Parkey (kicker), Pat O’Donnell (punter, holder), Patrick Scales (long snapper), Benny Cunningham, Tarik Cohen (kick returners), Tarik Cohen (punt returner)

Cardinals Inactives:

Markus Golden and Jermaine Gresham are both ACTIVE today.#CHIvsAZ inactives presented by @BrooklynBedding: https://t.co/gqXdNHpnt3 pic.twitter.com/J4ymM2PQZE

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 23, 2018

Cardinals Offense Expected Starters:

QB Sam Bradford

RB David Johnson

FB Derrick Coleman

WR Larry Fitzgerald

WR Chad Williams

TE Ricky Seals-Jones

LT D.J. Humphries

LG Mike Iupati

C Mason Cole

RG Justin Pugh

RT John Wetzel

Cardinals Defense Expected Starters:

DE Benson Mayowa

DT Corey Peters

DT Robert Nkemdiche

DE Chandler Jones

SLB Gerald Hodges

MLB Josh Bynes

WLB Deone Bucannon

CB Patrick Peterson

CB Jamar Taylor

FS Antoine Bethea

SS Budda Baker

Cardinals Specialists:

Phil Dawson (kicker), Andy Lee (punter), Aaron Brewer (long snapper), J.J. Nelson (kick return), Christian Kirk (punt return)