Who saw this coming a few weeks ago? The Arizona Cardinals sit atop the NFC West with a 5-4 record after taking care of business on Sunday against the visiting Chicago Bears.

Their 20-point winning margin left no doubt who was the better team in a home game that felt like an away game and with so many Bears fans in attendance.

Still, the Cardinals routed many of their visitors early in the fourth quarter with a thoroughly dominant performance that may have been the best top-to-bottom game they have ever put together in the 2024 season.

How did each position group perform in this case? Perhaps not surprisingly, quite well.

Quarterback: B+

This grade for quarterback Kyler Murray has less to do with the performance he showed on the field and more to do with the fact that he didn't have to play hero ball for the Cardinals to pull off a convincing win.

Perhaps that in itself deserves a higher grade, but Murray had a rather dull performance and his team still dominated their opponents, which is a good sign for the development of the entire team.

Murray was quite efficient, completing 65% of his passes for 154 yards and was largely a non-factor with just 6 rushing yards on two attempts on the ground.

Offensive line: B+

The Cardinals' offensive line continues to exceed preseason expectations, especially given the number of injuries the position group has suffered.

They broke their no-sack streak this weekend and Murray was counted down three times in the contest, for a loss of 17 yards.

One sack in particular was memorable when Murray ran into his own center, Hjalte Froholdt.

Tight End: B+

After a stellar 124-yard performance last week, tight end Trey McBride had a quiet night, although he still led the team in receptions with 3 for 35 yards.

McBride still doesn't have a receiving touchdown this season, but offensive coordinator Drew Petzing came up with some tricks and gave him a goal-line carry that resulted in a rushing touchdown on his stat sheet.

Elijah Higgins also contributed a few important catches, reaching almost the same distance as McBride with 34 of his own.

Running Back: A+

If there was one position group that really shined on Sunday, it would be the running backs.

The three leaders, James Conner, Trey Benson and Emari Demercado, managed 203 rushing yards, with Conner leading the field with another afternoon of more than 100 yards.

However, the salute of the week goes to Demercado, who made what was supposed to be a short rush to get Chad Ryland onto the field and end the half with a field goal on a home run. His 53-yard touchdown run to end the first half gave the Cardinals a 12-point lead and the momentum they needed.

Rookie Trey Benson had a nice day of his own with 37 yards on 8 carries and the first touchdown of his young career.

Wide Receiver: B

Similar to Murray, the wide receivers receive a lower grade simply because they didn't do much on Sunday.

In an increasingly concerning pattern, wide receivers were targeted just seven times total, five of which came against rookie Marvin Harrison, Jr.

In another semi-worrying pattern, Harrison Jr. only managed to catch two of those five targets, a fairly lackluster 34-yard performance.

Not only was the yardage less than stellar, but Harrison Jr. fumbled the ball, giving up a possession to Chicago, and another pass was snatched out of his hands by a Bears defender. Nothing to worry about yet, but the newbie looks exactly the same, a newbie.

Defensive line: A

After a disappointing performance against Miami last week, the Cardinals defensive line returned to State Farm Stadium motivated to play.

Sophomore Dante Stills made his presence known, recording a sack on his stat sheet in his third straight game, this time a half-sack, but potato.

The Bears were held to just 69 yards on the ground and the defensive line did an admirable job of corralling a mobile rookie quarterback and preventing him from getting his ground game going.

Linebacker: A

Another outstanding performance from the linebacker room helped massively in keeping the Bears' offense under control.

They also made improvements in the pass rush department on Sunday, securing the quarterback for a total of five sacks between Zaven Collins, who had two alone, Kyzir White, Jesse Luketa and rookie Xavier Thomas.

This could have been a breakout game for Thomas, who took on a larger role in the absence of Dennis Gardeck and showed off his elite speed by getting behind Caleb Williams for a key second-half sack.

Secondary level: A-

In the absence of the experienced Sean Murphy-Bunting, this young second division player played a full version.

Rookie cornerback Max Melton once again saw a lot of balls go his way, but he showed tremendous growth even from last week's performance in Miami.

Second-year cornerback Garrett Williams is making progress week by week and looks like he could very well develop into a star player and cornerstone at the position for the Cardinals' defensive rebuild.

Starling Thomas V is also a young cornerback to keep an eye on as he has the second-most tackles on the team and follows seasoned veteran Keenan Allen for much of the game, allowing just four catches for 36 yards.

Senior safeties Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson continued to do what they wanted, and Baker led the team with 12 tackles on the afternoon.