The Cardinals give their own fans reason to applaud their 29-9 victory over the Bears

At times during the first half of the Arizona Cardinals' 29-9 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, it felt like we had to scratch our eyes to see if what we were seeing was real.

It didn't matter that the Bears had 166 yards and 38 runs at halftime and the Cardinals had 30. Or that the Bears held the ball for 16:01 while Arizona played 13:59.

What mattered was that the Cardinals led 21-9 thanks to a defense that stopped the Bears on 5 of 7 third downs and limited them to three field goals, one of them on a trip into the red zone.

The downside was a Cardinals offense that stretched the Bears to 220 yards (7.3 per play), 148 of which came on the ground on just 16 carries (9.3 per play).

A big part of that, of course, was Emari Demercado's improbable 53-yard touchdown dash with four seconds left in the half and a 70-yard touchdown drive that saw running back James Conner touch the ball on six consecutive plays.

Running back Trey Benson started that possession with a 17-yard run, Conner had one of 16 and Benson finished it with a one-yard touchdown after Conner made a six-yard rushing run to the one-yard after a leverage The penalty after a field goal attempt prompted head coach Jonathan Gannon to take the points off the board and go for the touchdown.

The first touchdown came from two yards run by tight end Trey McBride one play after a 15-yard pass play on third-and-1 brought the ball to the two-yard line. McBride joked that he never thought his first hit of the season would be a run instead of a pass.

Conner had 73 yards at halftime and finished the day with 107, Demercado had 59, Benson 37, Murray 6 and even DeeJay Dallas got two yards late in the game on his first run of the season as the ground game totaled 213 yards.

McBride said of the Demercado score on third and fifth: “Kyler comes into the huddle, he calls a run and we say, 'Okay.'” He said, “Let's go.” Let's get this one hit and you that Lock up butt.' They actually played coverage – we expected them all to fall – they played two-high and I was able to block well on the MIKE linebacker to set up Emari for that run. That was a huge play for us going into the half looking to score the touchdown.”

Gannon said: “A lot of confidence in all these guys, and sometimes things look a little different with the carriers.” I really liked the spread of this game. I thought Trey Benson was coming into his own tonight, that he was running with all his might. I'm at pitch level and when I see him coming forward with his balls down, he's confident. He plays faster, he plays harder and he hits holes. Obviously James is the workhorse.

“Emari, I busted his balls and asked, 'When are you going to house one?' “Come on, man, let's go.” He did it today, so he'll probably bust my balls. Then DeeJay. DeeJay is an unsung hero from an energetic perspective for us throughout the week. What he does on fourth down; He's ready to go on offense first, second and third. This guy is a warrior. He is an alpha dog and I am so glad we have him. This guy’s lights are constantly going out every day.”

Despite the adversity on the right side of the line this season, Gannon praised all the coaches involved, saying, “Everyone involved put a good plan together.” That's a tough front. This is a difficult team. They do a good job in the run game and I liked some of our different concepts. They implemented it in practice, so they had a good feeling going into the game, and we’ve got good backs, man.”

Gannon also announced that defensive coordinator Nick Rallis and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers received game balls.

Rallis became a father for the second time about four and a half hours before kickoff and was there to lead the defense.

Gannon said: “We had a little bit of back and forth on Tuesday about what we should do about this guy (Bears quarterback Caleb Williams) because he's a tough player to defend. “They've got good skills and I love their plan him and the defense we used to attack those guys. Attacked the protection, released a few guys and thanked the player. Coach, that's cool. The players made plays. They've made good progress, they've stayed in touch. (We had) second attempts to get her on the floor, kept the cup and kept her at bay. I thought she was good.

“As much as they hurried, the back end covered well. Looking back, there isn't much air in certain calls, and when you put color on color and make them act under duress, it's hard. A big compliment to the backend too. They played well.”

As for Rodgers, Gannon said, “He couldn't even talk,” adding, “Special teams was down.” Just all kinds of plays from a lot of different guys. We talked about it last night to “play your part.” Whatever your role, everyone is equal. Everyone is exactly the same, regardless of role. Everyone has equal importance to the team. I thought boys played their part.

“(Punter) Blake (Gillikin), (I) thought it was really good. (Greg) Dortch had the return out of my mind. 'JB' (Joey Blount) breaks up. That was an incredible game. Chad Ryland pulls it off. I thought it was excellent.”

Just as much happened on a rare Sunday afternoon when the roof had to be closed after the game started because of rain and hail and the Cardinals won their third home game of the season in front of thousands of Bears fans after winning three in total the last two seasons.

Maybe, just maybe, something special is starting to happen for a franchise whose consistent winning isn't part of its DNA and where perhaps for many fans it's worth being a part of.

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: The Cardinals give their own fans something to applaud for their 29-9 win over the Bears