Illinois vs. Arizona State; Bears vs. Saints: Buy One Football Game Preview, Get the Second One Free!

Both the Illini and the Bears dominated their opposition last weekend, but both teams will face tougher tests this weekend:  the Illini will be hosting a top-25 team (Arizona State), while the Bears journey to the Superdome, where the Saints of football play.  Rather than write out separate previews (and predictions), I'm just going to combine previews for both games into one huge honkin' post.

Thanks to Bears, Quarterback Controversy Continues

Now that the starters are off the field in tonight's Bears-Cardinals game, let's look at the box score to see how the Cardinals' two struggling quarterbacks did:

Derek Anderson - 7 for 12, 94 yards, 1 TD, 111.1 QB rating

Matt Leinart - 9 for 10, 84 yards, 1 TD, 135.0 QB rating

Yes, that's right. Matt Leinart has a 135 rating in this game. The Cardinals had a quarterback controversy coming into this game, and they still do, but now it's because the Bears defense made each quarterback look equally good.

And as I'm writing this, Bears sideline reporter Lou Canellis asked Julius Peppers if he's happy with the Bears' first-team defensive performance*, since they held the Cardinals to 14 points. Um, Lou, if you checked out the blogosphere, you might have read that during the first two preseason games, the two QBs whom the Bears "held" to 14 points led their offense to a combined total of 3 points against first-teamers.

*To Peppers's credit, he said he was not happy with their performance.

I'm not saying the Cardinals' performance tonight makes the Bears defense look really bad, but...I can't think of another way to finish this sentence.

Great Timing!

Just one day after I say that Matt Leinart will provide a test for the Bears first-team defense on Saturday, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt pulls the rug out from under my prediction, naming Derek Anderson as his starter instead of Leinart. Poor Whisenhunt - after enjoying Kurt Warner's production the last two years, choosing between these two QBs must be like choosing between a case of jock itch and a case of hemorrhoids (note - it's an analogy only. I'm not saying Whisenhunt has either malady, or that either QB is either malady).

In any event, the Bears should be familiar with Anderson - last November, he helped gift-wrap a 30-6 Bears victory over the Browns. Anderson was 6-17 passing for 76 yards, with 2 interceptions and a nifty QB rating of 10.5 before spending the end of the game on the bench. Anderson has been marginally better than Leinart this preseason (24-41 for 193 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs). However, the touchdown came in the 4th quarter of the first preseason game (against the Texans' backups), and last week he made 2 poor throws into the end zone, forcing his team to settle for a field goal when they should have had an easy TD. Consequently, even with the change in starting QBs, it looks like the point of my original post still stands. If the Bears can't stop Anderson, we're in for a long season.

Testing, Testing...

I haven't said too much about the specifics of any Bears preseason games, and for good reason - preseason football results are mostly meaningless ("my borderline NFL players are better than your borderline NFL players"). If you don't believe me, ask the NFL owners, who are trying to extend the regular season to 18 games while eliminating 2 preseason games (yes, I know it's about increasing revenue, but there's more revenue to be had because they'd be exchanging two meaningless games for two games that count).

Nevertheless, this Saturday's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals offers an intriguing test for the Bears' defense, but not in the way you'd think. This is not the same Cardinals team that came to Chicago last November and steamrolled the Bears 41-21 (after jumping out to a 31-7 halftime lead). Without the retired Kurt Warner and the injured Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals offense has struggled in their two preseason games. Matt Leinart (Warner's replacement) has completed 10 of 13 passes but only for 77 yards in the two games, and the Cardinals' first-team offense has thus far generated only 4 first downs and no points.

Therefore, the Bears defense is in a no-win situation this week. If they perform well, it doesn't say much, because everyone's first-team defense has stopped the Cardinals. But if the Cardinals offense plays well this week after looking so bad for the last two weeks, it will be a sign that the defense is in trouble and that Bears fans are in for a difficult season.