We know Khalil Mack won the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Month award, now here are the rest of September’s award winners:
There are plenty of familiar names on that list, which includes Mitch Trubisky’s offseason roommate Jared Goff, oft-rumored 2018 draft target Calvin Ridley, and some guy named Patrick Mahomes.
Trubisky had everything cooking in the Bears’ Week 4 win against the Buccaneers. And while his six-touchdown performance wasn’t enough to win the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week award, it was enough to catch the eyes of on-lookers who have been waiting for this type of breakout performance. JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago explores Trubisky’s big game with the idea of answering a question we were all thinking about asking at some point – was Sunday a defining moment for the second-year QB or a flash-in-the-pan?
Trubisky’s stat line: 70 percent completion rate, 350+ yards, 5+ TDs, and 0 INTs is a rare one. It’s happened only 13 times, with Tom Brady (five times) and Drew Brees (twice) standing out as passers who have done it twice. But it’s not like that line guarantees greatness, as Stankevitz points out that Ryan Fitzpatrick (2014) and Nick Foles (2013) haven’t had smooth sailing since their studly showings. If anything, I feel as if Trubisky’s Week 4 stats are a building block or stepping stone to something bigger.
Good things happen when Taylor Gabriel and Tarik Cohen are on the field at the same time:
The rest and relaxation aspect of the bye week is easier to enjoy when the team has rattled off three straight wins and not battling through a 3-5 stretch as they were last year:
Sometimes, I am wrong about things (gasp!) but it’s OK to own up to it. I was not thrilled about the timing of the Week 5 bye week when the schedules were first announced. But knowing now what we didn’t know then, I can’t help but think this is a perfect time for a break. It’s a great time to re-assess some things, tweak others, and prepare the squad to attack the rest of the season with full force. Timing is everything, and the timing of this bye feels better now than it did back in April.
One of those minor tweaks could lead to a meaningful shuffle on the line, should the Bears follow the advice of one pundit. Bleacher Report’s Paul Kasbian believes the Bears must move Eric Kush to the bench. Kush is the 13th-lowest-rated guard at Pro Football Focus and saw rookie James Daniels cut into his snaps in Week 4, so change could be on the horizon.
Every team has training camp and preseason battles with decisions too close to call. For the Bears, that showdown was for the starting left guard position between Kush and Daniels. Kush had the veteran know-how, starting experience, and a feel for Matt Nagy’s system from the time the two crossed paths in Kansas City. Daniels posses first-round talent after spending his college career at Iowa – a school renowned for producing stud offensive linemen. So while the Bears chose experience to start the year, the bye has bought them some time to re-evaluate the position.
On the other side of the line, Bilal Nichols is doing things you probably wouldn’t expect out of a fifth-round pick:
Nichols would have been in line to get an up-tick in playing time had Akiem Hicks been suspended for making contact with an official. But because Hicks won’t be, the Bears’ depth is that much more dangerous along the defensive line. Still, it’s plays like the one above that suggest more playing time is in this big man’s future.
Happy birthday … and many more:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1047826311421612032
I feel as if a great birthday present from the NFL would be a touchdown added to his career mark that was taken away for some unknown reason:
NEWSLETTER
