Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals: Defensive grades

The Chicago Bears defense showed off its potential for dominance in their Preseason Week 2 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Throughout training camp, optimism has slowly been building about the prospects for the 2017 Chicago Bears defense. Though they didn’t make big splashes in the draft this year, they did bolster their depth with solid free agent picks and hoped for the development of some young players.

The early returns on that plan? Very solid.

The Bears defense went toe-to-toe with a solid Arizona Cardinals offensive attack and stifled it throughout the game. They gobbled up the run game, allowing only 40 yards total. And, when the #1s played for both teams, the Bears harassed Carson Palmer into discomfort, limiting the Cardinals’ usual downfield prowess.

The Bears defensive line dominated like they haven’t done for a long time. The linebackers continued their standard high level of play. The defensive back group, which has struggled to make plays in recent years, provided some nice pass defense in key spots.

And after giving up the game late last week, the reserve defense held on after being put in tough situations.

Overall, while there will be teaching points in any game, this defensive performance was hard not to be optimistic about.

Let’s take a look at how each position group did, starting with the big guys up front.