Chicago Bears: Week 4 game balls

The Chicago Bears are heading into their Week 5 bye with a 3-1 record and they own the top spot in the NFC North for the second straight week.

Despite being 3-point favorites and being heavily picked by most experts, no one saw a 48-10 blowout coming. Even more, this was the most complete game the team has played in close to five years, dating back to their blowout win against the Dallas Cowboys late in the 2013 season.

With so much good play in Sunday’s outing, who comes away with the game ball on each side? Let’s find out.

QB Mitchell Trubisky

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Holy cow. That’s my initial reaction of the second-year quarterback’s performance on Sunday.

19/26 (73%) 354 passing yards, 6 touchdowns, 53 rushing yards and a 154.7 quarterback rating. That was Trubisky’s final line in route to the 38 point blowout at Soldier Field.

Where do we even start?

Trubisky was one touchdown away from tying the all-time NFL record (shared by Sid Luckman) and if it wasn’t for such a lopsided score, there’s little doubt that he would have reached it.

For all of the talk of Trubisky’s “low ceiling” and “bust” label after 15 professional games, he silenced many doubts (at least for the time being) with the performance of a life time in Week 4.

Make no mistake, this was a game Trubisky and Bears fans needed, even against a struggling Buccaneers defense.

As I have continued to preach for the better part of the last 16 Trubisky starts, patience is needed. Yes, he has struggled more often than not but this is the type of game that could get him and this offense over the hump.

On the other side, it’s key not to get too high on a performance like this. For as impressive as it was, this won’t be a weekly occurrence.

The biggest key moving forward is building off his career game and continue to grow into a franchise quarterback that can lead them to the promised land.

Honorable Mention: RB Tarik Cohen

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For the second straight week, Cohen was the featured running back in head coach Matt Nagy’s offense.

Cohen finished the game leading the team in rushing (53 yards) and receiving (121 yards), while adding a touchdown to his prolific day. The former fourth round pick became the first Bear to eclipse the 100-yard mark, shortly followed by Taylor Gabriel (7 catches for 104 yards) later in the game.

Cohen’s value was on full display in Nagy’s offense on Sunday afternoon and I don’t expect that to disappear any time soon.

S Eddie Jackson

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The former Alabama Crimson Tide product is quickly turning into one of the bigger playmakers in the league at the safety position.

Jackson added another interception to his impressive 2018 season and locked down a prolific Buccaneers deep passing attack that had dominated through the first three weeks of the season.

The second-year safety finished the game with 3 tackles, an interception and a pass defensed, but it was what the Bucs offense didn’t do that gives Jackson this week’s game ball.

Outside of DeSean Jackson’s deep catch in the second quarter (that was on Adrian Amos’ side of the field), the vertical game was not there for either Tampa Bay quarterback in today’s game. All of this without the team’s best cornerback in Prince Amukamara.

I highlighted Jackson as a player that had to come up big in today’s game and he did just that. Jackson’s ceiling appears high and if it wasn’t for an off-sides penalty in the final minute of last week’s win in Arizona, Jackson would have another interception that resulted in a pick-six to add to his resume through four games.

Outside linebacker Khalil Mack could’ve easily landed the honors for the third time this season but Jackson’s impact on the field deserves to be seen.