Studs and duds in Cardinals’ 27-16 loss to the Bears

The Arizona Cardinals lost on Sunday in Chicago to the Chicago Bears 27-16. They fell behind 21-0 and could not stop the run game.

Bears quarterback Justin Fields, running back Khalil Herbert and tight end Cole Kmet had big games.

But what about the Cardinals’ players?

Who were the studs and the duds of the game?

There were hardly studs.

STUD: RB James Conner

Conner was really the lone bright spot in the game. He had his streak of games averaging at least 4.0 yards per carry snapped as he had 45 yards on 12 attempts an average of 3.8 yards. But he also caught five passes for 67 yards and a touchdown.

In all, he had 112 of the Cardinals’ 306 yards of offense.

STUD: K Matt Prater

All Prater did was nail another 55-yard field goal, the 80th of his career.

DUD: WR Michael Wilson

Wilson went catchless for the second straight week on four targets. He had a drop. The Cardinals struggle to get playmaking from their receivers.

DUD: The pass rush

The Bears have struggled with pass protection all season. The Cardinals entered the week with no sacks in three games.

The streak came to an end, but the only sack they were credited was when Justin Field ran out of bounds for no gain near Dennis Gardeck. They never actually tackled Fields on a pass attempt.

They had only one quarterback hit in the game.

Fields rushed for 97 yards and scored a touchdown when Zaven Collins broke contain on his rush.

DUD: The two-point decision

When Greg Dortch scored on a 38-yard touchdown catch, the Cardinals were down 24-16 and elected to go for two.

They failed, making them 3-for-12 on two-point tries this season.

While many argue the analytics say you should go for two there, it was another case of chasing points.

Kick the extra point, they are down seven.

With the failed attempt, it would have taken a touchdown and a converted two-point try just to tie the game, and it sort of took the momentum away from the Cardinals.

DUD: LB Owen Pappoe

Pappoe has been a solid special teams player all season. He got his first NFL start on Sunday alongside Krys Barnes in base defenses. However, he struggled.

His coverage mistake led to a big Cole Kmet catch. He missed multiple tackles and finished with only two.

Perhaps this is harsh, but all his athleticism was unhelpful because he couldn’t finish plays.