Enter Da Six Shooter in Chicago.
Bears coach Matt Nagy knew he had a force-of-nature linebacker in Khalil Mack, and now, after Sunday’s 48-10 mauling of the Buccaneers at Soldier Field, Nagy knows he has a quarterback capable of throwing six touchdowns in a game.
Through 15 career contests, Mitchell Trubisky had thrown nine touchdown passes entering Sunday. By halftime against Tampa, he had five. He added another in the third quarter, and finished with 350 passing yards and six TDs on 19-of-26 passing. He also led all rushers with 53 yards.
“That was kind of the breakthrough we were hoping for,” Trubisky said. “It was just a lot of fun.”
Trubisky threw short and long. His opening salvo came on a 39-yard scoring pass to Trey Burton. Next was a 14-yard touchdown connection with Allen Robinson. Tarik Cohen hauled in a 9-yard touchdown. Josh Bellamy caught one for 20 yards. Taylor Gabriel got in on the action with a pair of 3-yard touchdown grabs. In all, Trubisky’s six touchdowns fell one short of Chicago’s team record, which was seven against the Giants in 1943.
“I felt like I had great feet and eyes today,” Trubisky said.
Chicago’s turnaround to 3-1 has been the Khalil Mack Show thus far. Now coach Mike Nagy knows Trubisky can light up the scoreboard when pitted against a secondary that can best be described as porous.
But while Trubisky went boom, his counterpart went bust.
Tampa Bay quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ran out of rabbits to pull from his helmet. After putting on a show the first two weeks of the season, he almost managed an improbable comeback on Monday night. That game ended in a loss, and this one started no better. Fitzpatrick was sacked and stripped. He threw one incompletion off his back foot while fading away and altogether looked unsettled by his counterparts. He completed 9-of-18 passes for 126 yards by halftime.
He had to know the hook was coming.
Jameis Winston, fresh off serving his three-game suspension for allegedly groping a female Uber driver, was available to Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter. When the Bucs trailed 38-3 at the half, Fitzpatrick exited the stage. Winston threw a pick on his opening drive, and rebounded to throw a touchdown later.
Few quarterbacks know how quickly things can change better than Fitzpatrick. Two weeks ago, he was wearing wideout DeSean Jackson’s gold chains after a win over the defending Super Bowl champions. Now he’ll head into the bye lucky to see the field the rest of the season, barring an injury to Winston.
As for Trubisky, the Bears can be true believers in their Super Bowl hopes if he continues to play at this level.
Make Their Own Luck
Andrew Luck took his home field without his starting left tackle, his starting tight end or starting running back Sunday, and fell behind, 28-10.
So it goes in Indianapolis. His reaction? First, he rallied to force overtime. With 24 seconds left and the game tied, 34-34, in the extra period, Colts coach Frank Reich decided to go for it on fourth down and 4 yards to go at his own 43-yard line. Luck threw an incomplete pass. The Texans took over, and kicked a field goal to pick up their first win of the season. Luck stood by the play call afterward.
“Love it. We’re not going to play for a tie. I think everybody in that locker room freaking likes that. Loves that. I love that. Now, we gotta execute, I’ve got throw a better ball … but that attitude? We can get behind that.”
Luck finished with 464 yards in the air, a career high.
That’s More Like It
It is a rite of football season to watch the Dolphins fall in New England, and the annual event took place once more Sunday as Miami lost, 38-7, in Foxborough.
The Patriots had lost back-to-back games — at Jacksonville, then Detroit — prior to returning home, and finding rhythm against a Miami team that entered Foxborough with a 3-0 record. Miami has not won in New England since 2008, the year Matt Cassel manned the quarterback position.
There was a new receiver on display for the home crowd. Wideout Josh Gordon, who wore out his welcome in Cleveland, debuted for the Patriots after being traded to quarterback Tom Brady’s side. Gordon played 18-of-78 snaps, and caught two balls for 32 yards. He also had a notable block on James White’s touchdown run.
“It’s awesome, just period, catching a pass from Tom [Brady] at any point in time,” Gordon said. “He’s been rooting for me, and it’s been awesome to have his support and his love, as well as the rest of the teammates and staff here. You know, Tom’s a passionate guy and I love that, and I love the game of football and I think we’re going to mesh just fine.”
Brady will also have his favorite target back next week. Julian Edelman’s four-game suspension ended Monday, and he will be back in the lineup for the game against the Colts on Thursday night.
Play of the Day
The Bengals had the ball with 12 seconds left; the Falcons had a 36-31 lead at home. It was second down and 10 from Atlanta’s 13-yard line, and wideout A.J. Green was the lone Bengal lined up out wide right. Green moved inside first on his route before cutting back right when he reached the end zone. Quarterback Andy Dalton delivered a strike between two defenders to beat Atlanta’s zone coverage. Green grabbed the ball and slid in bounds to record the game-winning catch.
Post Patterns
Baker Mayfield began his first start as the Browns’ quarterback by throwing a pick-six on his second possession in Oakland. He recovered to complete 21-of-41 passes for 295 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Cleveland’s 45-42 loss in overtime. … The Bills returned to earth with a 22-0 loss at Lambeau Field. Josh Allen, the rookie quarterback who hurdled a Minnesota linebacker a week earlier, managed to connect on 16-of-33 pass attempts for 151 yards. He was also picked off twice and fumbled. Against all odds, Allen did not draw a roughing the passer penalty on Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, who had been flagged for one in each of his three previous games. … Adam Vinatieri moved past Morten Anderson for sole possession of first place in the NFL record book for most made field goals. At, 45, Vinatieri now has converted 566 field-goal attempts after hitting one from 42 yards out just before halftime against the Texans. … The latest blow to the Legion of Boom is the fractured lower left leg of free safety Earl Thomas. He suffered the break in Seattle’s 20-17 win over Arizona.
Three Stars
1. Andrew Luck
The Colts quarterback put up a career-high 464 passing yards, but still could not come away with a victory.
2. Julio Jones
The shootout in Atlanta featured Jones accumulating nine catches for 173 receiving yards in the Falcons’ 37-36 loss to the Bengals. His longest catch went for 49 yards.
3. Marcus Mariota
The Hawaiian feathered the game-winner to wideout Corey Davis in overtime against the Eagles, and completed 30-of-43 pass attempts for 344 yards and two TDs.
Quote of the Day
“I knew where he was running and I knew I didn’t have much time to wait for him to get there, so I just tried to flip it up there to the back corner. Right when I let it go, I thought, ‘We’ve got a shot.’ And I kind of looked under some legs and saw him put his arms up and make a great catch. So, it was pretty sweet. Those are fun ones.”
— Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on his 14-yard touchdown throw to tailback James White
Fantasy Insanity
- No Chris Carson should mean the perfect opportunity for first-round Seahawks rookie Rashaad Penny to get a good look, right? Nope. Mike Davis handled the bulk of the load. For the rest of the season, still prefer to stash Penny than Davis or Carson.
- What could possibly be better than taking a shot on a young QB the same week that QB explodes for six touchdowns? Having that QB at 1.52 percent ownership. That is what those who employed Mitchell Trubisky in the Roman Millionaire DraftKings contest got this week. But don’t leap at the notion that Trubisky is suddenly reliable. He didn’t lower his floor with that performance, but he did raise his ceiling.
- We have seen a weekly increase in the workload of Sony Michel and were bullish this would be the week when he would really shine, and he did — 25 carries, 125 yards and a score. He should be a steady Flex play the rest of the way. And if something happens to James White, Michel could become a monster. — Drew Loftis