Glendale, Ariz. ? They were once crosstown rivals, teams fighting for the allegiance of pro football fans in Chicago. The Bears and the Cardinals trace their history to the beginnings of the NFL.

The Bears played in Wrigley Field, the Cardinals in Comiskey Park. From 1920 to 1952, they faced each other twice a season.

Now such meetings are rare.

The Cardinals left Chicago in 1960, first for St. Louis, then for Arizona, developing a still-growing legacy of losing. The Bears stayed home, took over the town, and steamroll into Arizona with an unbeaten record for their encounter tonight with the Cardinals.

The Bears (5-0), off to their best start in two decades, want to use this stage as to validate their credentials as a Super Bowl contender.

“This is an opportunity to play well on the field and have everyone watching,” Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman said. “I think it’s big for our whole team to again make another statement of where we’re at right now.”

The Cardinals (1-4) will be showing off their fancy new stadium and hoping to pull off a huge upset.

Few remember that the Cardinals were Chicago’s first team, growing out of a football club founded on the city’s south side in 1898. The Bears are relative newcomers, beginning as the Decatur Staleys before George Halas moved the club to Chicago in 1921.

The Cardinals’ lone NFL title – yes, they really won one – came in Chicago, a 28-21 victory over Philadelphia on Dec. 28, 1947. The franchise has had one playoff victory in the 59 years since.

This was supposed to be a turnaround season for Arizona. Four of the Cardinals’ first six games were in their new stadium, a state-of-the-art palace in the western suburbs of Phoenix. After playing in a largely empty college stadium in Tempe for 18 years, the Cardinals are sold out for every home game.

Matt Leinart will start his second NFL game at quarterback, facing Chicago’s bruising, aggressive defensive front.