GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Chicago Bears didn't play well in the first half Sunday at State Farm Stadium, but they still were just 12 seconds away from going into halftime down five points to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Bears were set to open the third quarter with the ball and that deficit would have felt surmountable, even given how lopsided the first half felt.
Then the Cardinals dealt the Bears one more gut punch of a play.
Second-year running back Emari Demercado took a handoff from quarterback Kyler Murray and bolted untouched by the Bears defensive line.
He shot past defensive end Austin Booker's diving attempt at a tackle and took a diagonal toward the right sideline past linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who were engaged in blocks. Then, with wide receiver Greg Dortch racing alongside him to assist, Demercado outran safeties Kevin Byard and Elijah Hicks to the end zone.
The 53-yard touchdown with 4 seconds left in the second quarter put the Cardinals up by 12, and the Bears never recovered in a 29-9 loss.
"You definitely don't want to give up points right there," Byard said. "Good play call by them. They got us in the blitz, so he was able to come to the line untouched. Yeah, it was a tough play.
"I don't know what his 40 time was, but he was rolling. And then as I tried to come off the block, (Dortch) kind of grabbed my arm."
In his opening statement in the postgame news conference, Bears coach Matt Eberflus took responsibility for the play, saying he called a pressure to try to force the Cardinals to stay out of field-goal range and have to punt.
"I called a pass pressure, and they ended up running the ball," he said. "I can make a better call there. That's on me."
But Eberflus also said there was a line of defense to try to stop a runner from continuing a long run.
"It was a shell pressure, so there's two safeties back there," Eberflus said. "That's important the shell of the defense gets the runner down. You've got two corners and two safeties that can keep the big cup on there."
The play was the lowlight of a rough game for the Bears defense, which was playing without three starters -- defensive end Montez Sweat (shin), nickel Kyler Gordon (hamstring) and safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion). The Bears run defense, which entered Sunday allowing 120 rushing yards per game, ranked 14th, gave up 213 yards on the ground.
Cardinals lead running back James Conner gashed them with 18 carries for 107 yards -- 5.9 yards per carry -- and Trey Benson added eight carries for 37 yards. The duo combined for 63 rushing yards on the Cardinals' second touchdown drive. That drive would have ended in a field goal, but Gervon Dexter drew a leverage penalty on the kick attempt, extending the Cardinals' drive that ended on Benson's 1-yard run.
"I think they just out-executed us," linebacker T.J. Edwards said of the Cardinals run game. "They were doing a lot of gap schemes, and it was working for them. They have a really good back, really good runner at quarterback, and they were finding a way to make plays. That's on all of us as a defense, but as linebackers, we take pride in that. So that's going to start with us for sure."
The Bears defense was coming off a tough Week 8 loss to the Washington Commanders on Jayden Daniels' winning 52-yard Hail Mary.
The losing series brought outside scrutiny on Eberflus' coaching decisions and the Bears defense. But Bears players said they didn't think Sunday's flat performance was a hangover from a strange week. They just didn't execute.
And now they have to figure out how to get back on track.
"We've got to fight back," Johnson said. "We've got to find and take pride in what the hell we are doing out here. It was uncharacteristic of us, especially on defense. Three touchdowns in any game is unacceptable, in the first half it's crazy. We've got to figure out what it is. Each man has got to look themselves in the eye, figure out how to make plays, how they can impact the game better. Really, we've just got to find ways to win, especially on the road."