The Cardinals rushed for 213 yards, sacked Caleb Williams six times and crushed the Bears 29-9

THE STORY: The PT Cruiser shot down the sideline, unbelievably with no one in front of him, on the play that changed the game.

“I made the decision that I wanted to score,” said running back Emari Demercado, who earned the nickname “Old School Chrysler Car” for reasons known only to his position room.

The Cardinals were looking for a field goal in the final seconds of the first half Sunday at State Farm Stadium. That's all Demercado was trying to do: give kicker Chad Ryland a few more yards. Suddenly he had a 53-yard touchdown, breaking the Bears.

“I think they were a little discouraged after that moment,” Demercado added after the Cardinals took a 21-9 halftime lead en route to a 29-9 win over Chicago.

The Cardinals (5-4), coupled with the 49ers' bye and the Seahawks' loss to the Rams, are alone in first place in the NFC West. They accomplished their goal with an old-fashioned thumping of the Bears (4-4), wearing down Chicago's defense with 213 rushing yards and making life difficult for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, sacking him six times.

A week after Miami's passing game shined, the Cardinals returned to their blunt force trauma of an offense. James Conner ran for 107 yards on just 18 carries. Demercado, the PT Cruiser, had a spectacular run. Trey Benson also rushed for a touchdown on his 37-yard day and added an 18-yard reception. Even tight end Trey McBride got involved with a two-yard touchdown run.

(Although Conner noted, McBride is not considered a running back.)

“Not too many times have I been able to play a game like this, play the way I felt like I was playing, not to the level of my level, and still be able to win the way we did,” said Quarterback Kyler Murray. “It was an incredible performance by the entire team. The defense did their best and it was great to run the ball the way we did.”

Murray completed just 13 of 20 passes for 154 yards. It was fine, although a couple of plays stuck against Marvin Harrison Jr. – one of which was a 21-yard completion to Harrison that Harrison fumbled after the catch, and another back-shoulder throw later in the game that made Harrison look like he was he would have made a great catch But the ball was deflected by a better play by defender Elijah Hicks.

Still, the Cardinals had no need for Murray's heroics. The rest of the squad also took care of that.

Murray smiled when asked about Demercado's TD run. The Cardinals were only five yards short of a field goal. You got so much more.

“I looked down and saw him running, and I looked at the clock and thought, 'He did it. We’re going to be good,'” guard Evan Brown said. “I thought, 'If he can't get 40 yards in eight seconds, we might need a new back.'”

That TD was all that was needed as the Cardinals constantly harassed Williams and the defense didn't allow a touchdown for the second time in three games.

Williams didn't turn the ball over, but other than a 44 pass to Rome Odunze – which was only open due to a missed coverage – he never came close to causing any problems for the Cardinals. The Bears only had 69 yards rushing.

“I knew we were going to have a breakout game defensively, quarterback-wise,” linebacker Kyzir White said. “That was the focus all week, which really made him uncomfortable.”

The Cardinals have won three straight and host the 3-6 Jets next week before reaching their bye. While Jonathan Gannon continues to preach “the next game” above all else, even the coach exuded optimism about what his team has put together over the last month.

“The confidence to play at a high level and make a lot of plays within the team, that carries over,” Gannon said. “I think we're starting to get to the point where they know if we… they've always known that, but they do. They play, they make plays, they connect.”

The Cardinals got that everywhere on Sunday, including from PT Cruiser and the rest of the running back fleet.

“I just love seeing them be explosive and impact the game,” Conner said. “That’s what we’re talking about. We influence the game somehow, some way.”