Cardinals against Bears

• Give LT Levi Brown credit. He did a very solid job against RDE Julius Peppers.

• Fifth-year DT Gabe Watson was very active in this game. The light could be coming on for the former fourth-round pick out of the 2006 NFL Draft.

• Underrated DT Calais Campbell continues to make his presence known. For a guy at 6-8, he moves around quite well. Chicago's offensive line had trouble with him for most of the time he was in the game.

• Jay Cutler struggled in this game. But for whatever reason, he couldn't get untracked even with mostly good pass protection. He just doesn't look comfortable. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz must design plays for Cutler to get the ball out of his hands quickly in order to get his confidence back.
 • Veteran RB Chester Taylor displayed outstanding moves and pretty good speed during his 34-yard run in the first half.

• Second-year WR Johnny Knox is clearly Cutler's top passing option. He has improved his route running and has outstanding short area quickness.

• The Bears were without several key players on defense, so that could be attributed to their struggles on that side of the ball.

Here are more random thoughts and observations from the remaining eight games:

• Veteran QB Jake Delhomme was very accurate again for the Cleveland Browns against the cheap Detroit Lions jersey. He's getting clearly defined reads in the play calling, and he's getting rid of the ball quickly. He's 38-48-345-2TDs so far in his three preseason appearances. But the big number, zero INTs.

• One of the main reasons why the Browns wanted FB Peyton Hillis included in the Brady Quinn jersey trade was because they wanted to add some athleticism to that position. That athleticism was on display against the Lions.

• Rookie RB Jahvid Best continues to shine. He's unbelievable in space.

• While their offense continues to be impressive, the defense is looking like it's going to struggle again. The Lions simply lack enough quality talent on the other side of the ball.

• Carson Palmer looked very comfortable behind center for the Cincinnati Bengals during his playing time against the Buffalo Bills. He did a good job of scanning the field. He is loaded with passing options for the first time in many years
 • While Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco had a very solid game against the New York Giants, the Giants were without two of their top-three cornerbacks. Flacco's offensive line did a great job of giving him enough time to throw the ball most of the time.

• While some want to put him out to pasture, veteran TE Todd Heap looked very good. I can't recall him moving this well in recent years.

• The injury-ravaged Ravens secondary had a nice performance against QB Eli Manning.

• Rookie WR Victor Cruz did it again for the Giants. He continues to make big plays. Not only is he pushing for a spot on the 53-man roster, but he could wind up being their fourth receiver.

• Veteran DT Rocky Bernard not only had two sacks against the cheap Ravens jersey , but he was very active and disruptive. That's what they were looking from him last season.

• What in the world happened to the Dallas Cowboys tonight in their matchup against the Houston Texans? Sure, they looked flat, but they acted like they didn't want to be there.

• QB Tony Romo was better in this game than he had been in the previous two game
 The Arizona Cardinals are still trying to determine who will start opening day against the St. Louis Rams. With that said, here are some observations on both signal callers as well as the quarterback on the other side of the field, Jay Cutler and his Chicago Bears:

• Derek Anderson got the start for the Cardinals and was very efficient. The tall passer was fairly accurate and was willing to stand in the pocket to throw the ball. It's a virtual certainty that he'll be their starting quarterback when the team takes on the St. Louis Rams in the season opener.

• While Matt Leinart was very accurate, he continues to check down the ball too much instead of maintaining his down-field focus. That's why he throws for a low average per pass attempt. They simply can't run the passing game they would like with Leinart behind center.

• The way the coaches are using second-year RB Chris "Beanie" Wells continues to be a mystery. He didn't get into the game until the second quarter. Of course, the fumble in the red zone didn't help his cause. Tim Hightower is the starter for one big reason. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. But that doesn't mean Wells won't be a big factor during the regular season. Wells is eminently more talented than Hightower, but he must correct his mistakes.

• We've been talking about undrafted free-agent rookie WR Stephen Williams quite a bit in this space over the past few weeks, but he continues to get it done in a big way. He made a nice adjustment on his 27-yard TD catch from Anderson in the second quarter. It's mind-boggling why Williams wasn't drafted. His wholesale NFL hats Combine workout was decent, and he runs well for his size.