Cardinals end scoring drought in first quarter against Bears

After being shutout a week ago, the Arizona Cardinals made it back to pay dirt.

Arizona scored early, taking an early 7-0 lead over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

On their first drive of the game, the Cardinals looked sharp.

First drive goes for SIX!

Sam to @RickySealsJones! #BeRedSeeRed pic.twitter.com/kSSKURlv44

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 23, 2018

Behind quarterback Sam Bradford, the team marched 75 yards down the field in five plays. Bradford capped off the drive with a 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ricky Seals-Jones. The quarterback went 3-for-3 for 71 yards and the score on the drive.

Heading into Week 3, the 30-year-old quarterback had averaged less than four yards per passing attempt and had just five out of 37 completions go for more than 10 yards.

But what’s better than one first-quarter touchdown?

Two first-quarter touchdowns.

One play is all that was needed.

Sam finds @DavidJohnson31.@DavidJohnson31 finds the end zone! pic.twitter.com/AMdbwsE4Lm

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 23, 2018

Following a fumble recovery by Corey Peters, the Cardinals needed just one play to get back into the end zone. Bradford connected with running back David Johnson for the 21-yard score, making it 14-0 Arizona.

In the first quarter, Bradford completed four of his five passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

To try to switch things up, Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks talked about scaling back the playbook last week to allow players to think less and play faster. He also wanted to get Johnson more involved in the gameplan.

The changes seem to be paying off so far.

With their two first-quarter scores, the Cardinals have more points in Week 3 than the first two games combined.

Bradford’s performance would not hold true, however.

The second half looked nothing like the first as Bradford tossed two interceptions and fumbled, allowing the Bears to claw back into the game.

He would be replaced in the fourth quarter by rookie quarterback Josh Rosen.

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