Bears Get 31-21 Win in Desert : NFC: Chicago holds off a Phoenix rally to gain its third consecutive victory and improve to 6-1.

The Phoenix Cardinals got a lesson in smash-mouth football from the team that invented it--the Chicago Bears.

Neal Anderson scored twice on two-yard runs and Jim Harbaugh passed and ran for two more touchdowns as Chicago withstood a late Cardinal comeback for a 31-21 victory Sunday.

The NFC Central-leading Bears (6-1) led, 28-7, at halftime after limiting Phoenix to 120 yards--including 21 rushing. Chicago then held on for its third consecutive victory.

It came in front of a crowd of 71,233 at Sun Devil Stadium, the largest attendance figure in the 70-year-history of the the NFL’s oldest rivalry.

“At least it was a good first half and we did enough to win,” Chicago Coach Mike Ditka said. “This matches the number of wins we had all last year, so we have to feel good about that.

“It was a much better football team that we played against than the score would indicate.”

Phoenix (2-5) rallied behind Timm Rosenbach, who completed 18 of 30 passes for two touchdowns and a career-high 256 yards despite four sacks.

Rosenbach connected with J.T. Smith for a three-yard touchdown pass play 23 seconds before halftime and closed to within 31-21 on a 40-yard touchdown pass play from Rosenbach to Roy Green with 7:16 left.

The Cardinals got the ball back on safety Lonnie Young’s diving interception at the Chicago 35-yard line with 6:06 left, but had to punt after losing eight yards on three plays.

“We have to find a way to win these close games,” first-year Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel said. “We came back big in the second half. We shot our best bullet and just came up short.

The Bears led, 28-0, in the first half and finished with 382 yards of total offense--223 of it rushing as Brad Muster gained 99 yards in 12 carries and Anderson 74 in 20 attempts.

Harbaugh, who completed all six of his passes for 134 yards in the first half, finished completing nine of 14 passes for 166 yards and connected with Ron Morris on a 67-yard touchdown pass play.

“In the first half, we were quick and had ball control. In the second half, we just didn’t have the ball that much,” Harbaugh said. “But we made the big plays when we had to and we were confident we could win.”

The Bears took a 7-0 lead 3:24 into the game on Anderson’s two-yard run. It capped a six-play, 84-yard drive in which Anderson accounted for 62 of the yards.