There is something about Thursdays that just brings out the best in Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
After Thursday’s practice leading up to the Giants game in Week 12, backup QB Chase Daniel gave extraordinarily high praise on Trubisky’s performance at Halas Hall.
“I thought he threw the ball as best as I’ve ever seen him on a Thursday,” Daniel told The Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s 100 percent truth. Our whole team felt that today. He had something else about him today, a pop to him, whatever it may be.”
The following Thursday on Thanksgiving against the Lions, Trubisky easily had the best game of his 2019 season to that point, completing 29 of 38 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns.
Maybe there was some truth to the Thursday magic that Daniel was talking about.
Then, last night, with Chicago facing a potential NFC playoff opponent, Trubisky took his game a step further, and he wasn’t just the best football player on Soldier Field on Thursday, he was historic.
According to Stats By STATS, Trubisky was the first QB in history to throw for three touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his passes on 30 or more attempts, rush for 50 yards and run for a TD in the same game.
But the night didn’t start in Trubisky’s favor.
After the Dallas Cowboys’ first offensive possession, which ended in a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown, it was up to Trubisky to respond with a scoring drive of his own. Initially, Trubisky marched the offense down the field and at the very least it looked like it would end with a field goal, but the third-year quarterback threw an inexcusable pass intended for Javon Wims. The result was his fourth red zone interception of the year.
That interception, though, would be the last of Trubisky’s mistakes. On the next four offensive possessions, the Bears’ drives ended in a touchdown, field goal, touchdown and another touchdown to start the third quarter. The Bears scored 24 unanswered points and eventually won 31-24.
All night, Trubisky looked poised in the pocket, threw with conviction and used his legs to take advantage of the Cowboys’ defense, running for 63 yards on 10 attempts, including a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to put the Bears up 31-14.
Prior to the offensive explosion against the Cowboys, Trubisky struggled in primetime games at Soldier Field. In his five games played, dating back to his first career start against the Vikings in 2017, he only had five touchdown passes, nine interceptions and an average QBR of 39.3.
Against the Cowboys, Trubisky had four total touchdowns and a QBR of 80.6. And the 31 points the Bears scored was the most by the offense all season.
Despite the success that Trubisky and the offense had against a good Dallas defense, the Bears’ quarterback wasn’t content with his performance and is still looking to improve.
“I’m just trying to get better every week,” Trubisky said. “[I’m] continuing to stay hungry and progress each week. We have gotten better over the last couple of weeks, talking as a team, and that is what is most important to me. That is what allows you to play better as an individual if you focus on the team first and focus on the guys around you.”
These past two weeks for Trubisky have been phenomenal, and although many fans would agree that they wish this came sooner, his emergence couldn’t have come at a more crucial time in the season.
Unfortunately for Trubisky, his next game will not be on a Thursday, but instead a Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field.
Hopefully the Thursday magic carries over because Chicago needs Trubisky to play like the franchise quarterback they envisioned him to be in these final games if they want any chance of making the playoffs.
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