The healthy Arizona Cardinals foiled bookmakers on Sunday by pushing the score against the Chicago Bears past the over/under before halftime. Carson Palmer looks gleefully comfortable in the pocket — but through the air isn’t Arizona’s sole scoring strategy. Sure, Palmer threw for 4 TDs as the Bears surrendered 48 points at home. But Arizona also logged 115 yards on the ground in a scarily efficient attack. Add a 108-yard kickoff return touchdown by David Johnson and a Tony Jefferson INT for another and boom — 48 points.
That comes after a week one 31-19 victory over the Saints. Next up for Arizona is the 49ers who just gave up 43 points to the Steelers. The Cardinals are averaging nearly 40 points a game so far, having scored 79 in the first two. That average would put them well above the NFL record-holding 2013 Denver Broncos, who averaged 37.9 points per game. If Palmer has a Steelers/Ben Roethlisberger-type performance against the 49ers — who look vulnerable — they’ll be on record track.
