So much for rallying the troops in the face of adversity.

The Bears took to the desert and it literally rained on their parade back from Hail Mary Pass as the Cardinals dominated them starting midway through the second quarter in a 29-9 loss on Sunday.

It was a loss that raised legitimate questions about the team, the coaching staff and even GM Ryan Poles' role in all of it. The Cardinals (5-4), like the Commanders last week, are a team that fires coaches and begins rebuilding long after the Bears begin, but they are better teams.

“We have to circle the wagons, we have to do a really good job and stay close,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “That’s what you do in difficult times.”

It's detrimental, all right. Instead of putting all the heat on Tyrique Stevenson at the end of the game, the entire team will now have to absorb the heat after collapsing.

Shortly after the rain fell, hail began to fall in the Phoenix area, a real oddity. Without the roof, it even threatened to jeopardize a Bears field goal attempt. That was unfortunate considering they never got closer than Arizona's 11-yard line to attempt more than a field goal.

Shortly after, the Bears watched as the Cardinals' running game rolled right through their defense. James Conner ran for 107 yards on 18 carries, Emari Demercado for 59 yards and Trey Benson for 37 yards, while the Cardinals ran for 213 yards on the ground. They only needed 155 yards passing from Kyler Murray to win.

The devastating blow came before halftime when Cairo Santos, after field goals of 53 and 29 yards, was able to close the deficit to 14-9 with another 53-yarder. With 26 seconds to play, the Cardinals gained 17 yards and with 12 seconds left in the half, Eberflus called for a blitz. Demercado took a handoff shot down the right side for a 53-yard pass.

“They made a good decision,” safety Kevin Byard told reporters. “Apparently they caught us in a blitz or whatever. He could get through the line unscathed or whatever. It was bad luck.”

Eberflus didn't realize that bad luck was involved.

“The result at the end of the half is in my hands,” said Eberflus. “I called for pass defense and pass pressure, and they ended up running the ball. I can make a better decision.”

“That’s up to me. I think our run defense needs to be strengthened.”

It was like a tire blowing out.

“You don’t want to give up something like that at the end of the half,” linebacker TJ Edwards told reporters.

They did it at the end of last week's game, this time at the end of the half.

From a 21-9 halftime deficit, the Bears went downhill and the offense never got past the Cardinals' 40 in the second half.

The Arizona offense, which scored on Trey McBride's 2-yard run and Trey Benson's 1-yard run in the first half, simply harassed the Bears' defense the entire second half. The additional field goals of 29 and 55 yards from Chad Ryland and then a safety due to a cut block in the end zone after the game got out of hand.

Williams barely managed 22-of-41 for 217 yards and was sacked six times. He suffered a hit near the end of the game and again on the final play and limped off the field.

Why their franchise quarterback played on the final series of a 29-9 game, intercepting shots while right tackle Darnell Wright left the game with a knee injury and left tackle Braxton Jones missed the entire game seems questionable at best.

“We're just getting work and getting and getting timing and getting timing in the two-minute operation,” Eberflus said.

Williams limped off the field with an ankle injury but said he would be fine.

“It’s not my decision,” Williams said. “If you are in the game, you fight until the end of the game. If not, the coach makes such a decision, you have to deal with it and think about the next steps.”

The Bears are now 3-18 in away games under Eberflus, 4-17 if you credit him for the win in London when they were officially the home team.

They'll return home for a game that will be considered New England's best game of the year, not because it could prevent a three-game slide, but because losing to a bad team at home is another one has to be rebuilt since Eberflus became coach, which will invite many questions about a burn in the season.

The only positive thing was that in the end no one cared about the whole Stevenson situation anymore. He did not start as a penalty taker for the previous week's Hail Mary pass, but was forced to play because his replacement, Terell Smith, injured his ankle, along with Andrew Billings (pectoral muscle), Darnell Wright (knee) and Jaylon Jones (shoulder). left the game with injuries.

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