On Sunday, Mitchell Trubisky surprised the city of Chicago with one of best quarterback performances in franchise history during a48-10 Bears win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Trubisky passed for six touchdowns, threw for over 350 yards, and rushed for 50 yards without a turnover.
He became the first Bears quarterback ever to throw five touchdowns in one half. His historic game was something that not only he needed, but the team and fans needed also.
In the two games leading up to Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers, the Bears defense had led them to victory constantly sacking the opposing quarterback and taking the ball away. Against the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, Trubisky’s play was inconsistent as there were periods of time where the offense would be stagnant. That would not be the case Sunday as the Bears scored on six of their first seven possessions on offense.
Trubisky turned his biggest weakness into his biggest strength as time after time he completed throws 20 yards or longer downfield where he had struggled mightily in games before. He completed seven passes that were 20 yards or more to where in the three games prior, he had completed just three.
THIS is what we're talkin' about!@Mtrubisky10 hits @TreyBurton8 for a 39-yard TD on the opening drive of #TBvsCHI. https://t.co/TC9Asz6700
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 30, 2018
What was even more impressive was his ability to incorporate all of his offensive targets into the game plan. Tarik Cohen and Taylor Gabriel both recorded 100-yard receiving games and five different Bears players caught touchdown passes. Trubisky was going through his reads and making the right choice finding the open man consistently and throwing with precise accuracy hitting his receivers in stride.
Trubisky needed this game the most as he was the subject to intense scrutiny coming into the game. In the Arizona game, there were times where the Bears sophomore quarterback looked confused and mentally defeated. Fans and critics saw the opposite this week as the quarterback was direct and displayed the utmost confidence in all of his decisions.
The two people who this performance matters the most to besides Trubisky are general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy. Pace faced criticism for not only drafting Trubisky with the second overall pick in 2017 but also trading several draft picks to move up just one draft slot. The criticism has grown even more intense with the success of quarterbacks taken later in the first round in Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Sunday’s game provided much-needed relief for the Bears general manager.
It was important for head coach Nagy also as he was hired with the main purpose to get the best out of Trubisky. The first year head coach’s offense had struggled at times as it lacked consistency in extended portions of the first three games. Nagy’s offense relies on the deep ball as a base for success and it did not have that in any of the team’s games before Sunday. His quarterback played at an All-Pro level completing passes of 30 yards or longer to team’s running back, receivers, and tight end.
The performance could not have come at a better time as the team now heads into their bye week before traveling to Miami to take on the Dolphins on October 14th. It provides Nagy and Trubisky an extended period of time to build on the success of Sunday’s win while also working on the shortcomings of the games before. It also forces the Dolphins to now have to spend more time examining game film as the Bears offense against the Buccaneers was vastly different from the one seen weeks before.
There is no way to stress the importance of Sunday’s game at the current time of the season. Fans and the media were close to writing Trubisky off as a quality quarterback had he struggled against one of the NFL’s worst defensive units. Instead, many were spent wondering about future possibilities of just how good this Bears team could be with a dangerous offense. Before the start of the game, no one could have predicted a historic demonstrated put on by a Chicago Bears quarterback.
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