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CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Two years ago, the Chicago Bears were rejected by Dave McGinnis. On Sunday, the Bears rejected him. Cornerback R.W. McQuarters returned a fumble 69 yards for a touchdown and James Allen ran for a one-yard score as the Bears posted a 20-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, who made their first visit to Soldier Field since 1982. The game marked the return of McGinnis, who was on the verge of being hired as Bears coach after the 1998 season. But just before McGinnis was to be introduced at a news conference, he was unable to agree to contract terms and the Bears later hired Dick Jauron. "Every game you play in Soldier Field is going to be a field position ballgame," McGinnis said. "But when you get down into that area (red zone), you got to come away with more than three points at least one time." With Chicago leading 13-6 midway through the third quarter, McQuarters picked up a fumble by Michael Pittman at the Bears 31 and ran the other way, putting Chicago ahead by 14. "(Safety) Mike Brown had a great play tackling Pittman in the backfield," McQuarters said. "He got a hand on the ball and the ball came out." "I tried to give the guy a stiff-arm and they made a good play," Pittman said. "I'm not going to make excuses." Allen gave the Bears the lead for good with 7:49 left in the second quarter when he capped a nine-play, 69-yard drive with his first touchdown of the season. He finished with 75 yards on 18 carries. "James Allen ran extremely well," Bears quarterback Jim Miller said. Chicago (3-1) is off to its best start since 1996 and Arizona slipped to 1-3. "A great feeling to finish a quarter of the season and be 3-1," Jauron said. "It's a happy locker room, I'll tell you that." The Bears took the lead with 2:46 left in the opening quarter on a 46-yard field goal by Paul Edinger after Chicago drove 61 yards on 13 plays. Arizona tied the contest just under two minutes into the second quarter when rookie Bill Gramatica booted a 40-yard field goal, capping a 10-play, 58-yard drive. After the Bears went ahead on Allen's touchdown, Gramatica connected on a 47-yard field goal with 3:18 to play in the first half. But Paul Edinger hit a 43-yarder as time ran out in the half, giving Chicago a 13-6 lead. With 9:35 remaining in the third, the Cardinals took over at their own 46. Four plays later, quarterback Jake Plummer handed off to Pittman, who fumbled after being hit by safety Mike Brown and McQuarters turned the turnover into a touchdown. "It was a good bounce," McQuarters said. "I picked it up and was gone. I got it in stride so the only thing I saw was touchdown." The Cardinals capped a 13-play, 99-yard drive with just 2:52 left in the game when Plummer hit Frank Sanders for a seven-yard touchdown. "The 99-yard drive by Arizona at the end was a little frustrating," Chicago middle linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "But overall, we played OK." Arizona stopped the Bears on the next possession and got the ball back with 1:02 left. But the Cards were only able to run four plays and a false-start penalty ended the game. "They stopped us a few times but we also stopped ourselves," Plummer said. "We had a lot of drive-ending penalties."
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