Cardinals vs. Bears 2015 picks and predictions: Arizona big road favorites

The Cardinals and Bears were both without their starting quarterbacks at the end of last season, but for very different reasons. Arizona's Carson Palmer suffered an ACL injury in November that knocked him out of action, whereas the Bears sat Jay Cutler down in late December for poor performance. Their respective returns in Week 1 couldn't have gone more differently.

Palmer went 19 of 32 for 307 yards and three touchdown passes in the Cardinals' 31-19 win over the Saints last week. The performance was quite a contrast from the last time the Cardinals played a meaningful football game, when Ryan Lindsey threw for a mere 82 yards while tossing up two interceptions against the Panthers in the postseason.

The revamped Bears defense will probably have its hands full with Palmer Sunday, after affording Aaron Rodgers all of the time in the world to throw last week. The Bears didn't sack or hit Rodgers once. On the few occasions the Bears did generate a pass rush, Rodgers skipped out of the pocket and ran six times to the tune of 36 yards.

Rodgers diced up Chicago for three touchdown passes in Week 1, and it's difficult to see the Bears being able to curtail Arizona's passing attack. Larry Fitzgerald led the Cardinals in receptions last week, and should present a matchup problem for the inexperienced Bears secondary.

Palmer doesn't make a lot of mistakes, which means he's the antithesis of Cutler, who showed last week he's still prone to late-game blunders. When given a chance to lead the Bears down the field for a game-winning drive, he threw an interception to linebacker Clay Matthews that effectively ended the contest.