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 http://www.authenticschicagobears.com/cheap-bryce-callahan-jersey , 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 TrubiskyPhoto by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesHoly 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 CohenPhoto by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesFor 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 JacksonPhoto by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesThe 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.Week 3 Preview: Bears vs. Cardinals While things have been bad for the Bears’ offense, some teams have it worse. And while Chicago has seen some very bad offensive football over the years, the 2018 Cardinals is taking it to a new level.They have scored just six points, total Youth Taylor Gabriel Jersey , in their first two games of the season. The Cardinals have the fewest passing yards in the league, while the Bears aren’t a ton better, coming in 29th.So Sunday’s game doesn’t appear to be a high scoring affair but there’s plenty of intrigue, especially on the Bears side. Could this be the game where the offense breaks through? How much more stifling can the defense be, especially after containing two of the league’s best quarterbacks?Arizona CardinalsSB Nation site: Revenge of the BirdsGame day/time/TV: Sunday, 3:25 p.m. CT, FOXRecord: 0-2Last week: 34-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The Cardinals ended with five first downs, a QB that passed for less than 100 yards and converted just three of 12 third downs.They had 137 total offensive yards, while they allowed 432 yards to the Rams.They held Todd Gurley in check in the running game (just 42 yards and just 90 total allowed) but he still managed three scores on the ground.Bears all-time record against: 58-28-6Historical match ups: Being two charter franchises, that shared the same city for a number of years, this series goes back a ways. In fact, after the divisional opponents, the Cardinals are the next team with the most games against the Bears.The most iconic gamethough has to be the so-called Miracle in the Desert game, a.k.a. the ‘Crown their ass’ game. The Super Bowl bound Bears came back from a 20-0 deficit to win 24-23 with two defensive scores and a Devin Hester return TD.Offense: The Cardinals almost have none.They rank 32nd in offensive yards, 32nd in pass yards and 31st in rushing yards.The Cardinals are averaging just three points per game following a six point performance in week one and a shutout last week.Quarterback Sam Bradford is taking ‘checkdown’ to a whole new level. He has 243 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions on 61 pass attempts.He’s averaging four yards per attempt, 6.6 yards per completion, 2.5 Adjusted Yards Gained per Attempt and 2.16 Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt.His receivers are the future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald (10 rec./104 yds./0 TD), Ricky Seals-Jones (7/36/0) and Christian Kirk (5/31/0).They also have the versatile pass catching running backs in David Johnson (6/33/0) and Chase Edmonds (9/39/0).Johnson has gotten off to a disappointing start as a runner as well, with just 85 rushing yards and the team’s only touchdown of the season. He is averaging just 3.9 yards per attempt. Edmonds is doing well with limited touches, as he has 29 yards on five attempts (5.8 YPC). Defense: Their defense, while having some big names, hasn’t fared a ton better than their offense. Maybe it’s the new schemes and coaches, maybe it’s the lack of help one unit is getting from the other.The Cardinals come in with the 30th ranked defense in yards allowed and they rank 25th in points allowed. Their pass defense is 27th and their rush defense is 28th.While the unit has Patrick Peterson (7 tackles http://www.authenticschicagobears.com/cheap-kyle-long-jersey , 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 pass defensed), Chandler Jones (1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 2 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and Haason Reddick (3 tackles), they have been unable to slow down opponents.Injury report: The Cardinals are a lot more banged up than the Bears are, luckily for us.Their Wednesday injury report listed 11 players:Limited: QB Sam Bradford (non-injury related), S Ruby Ford (ankle), OL Mike Iupati (chest), DL Robert Nkemdiche (foot) and OL Andre Smith (elbow)Did not participate: WR Larry Fitzgerald (hamstring), LB Dennis Gardeck (ankle), DL Olsen Pierre (Toe)Full participation: OL Korey Cunningham (thumb), DE Markus Golden (knee), TE Jermaine Gersham (Achilles)See the Bears injury report here (spoiler alert: it’s tiny)Key match ups: This is going to be about Mitchell Trubisky reading and identifying his reads and targets against a suspect Cardinals secondary. Trubisky has to watch out for Patrick Peterson, who is one of the best in the game. Charles Leno Jr. is going to square off against Chandler Jones, who has gotten off to a slow start this season, but he remains one of the best in the game. This is a bigger test for Leno, who has quietly been very good, and will have a chance to really solidify himself as one of the better left tackles with a good game.For the Bears’ defense, it’s all about stopping David Johnson. So long as the Arizona offense can’t establish the run, then it will be a long day for them, because Bradford seems unable Youth Eric Kush Jersey , or unwilling, to take downfield shots. Larry Fitzgerald remains one of the best receivers in the game, so it would be nice to see Kyle Fuller have a nice solid game against him after having some struggles in the first two games.What to watch for: Can the Bears offense put together an entire game and get touchdowns consistently?The offense has had its lumps during the first two weeks and everyone is waiting for Trubisky to get it all together. This week appears, on paper, to be that game.The Cardinals haven’t been able to move the ball or stop their first two opponents. If Trubisky and the offense really struggle again this week, then the alarm bells and panic buttons will be sounding all week around Chicago.However, this could be a big game for Jordan Howard. The Cardinals are 28th against the run (though they are not much better against the pass, 27th) so the o-line should be able get some push.On the other hand though, because of Mitch’s struggles, opponents are going to focus on slowing down Howard and make the QB beat them. It was Seattle’s gameplan and it worked in large part, until Matt Nagy utilized his wideouts in sweeps and outside runs to get rushing yards.I expect another game with upwards of five players receiving rushing opportunities.Key stats: The Bears are +1 in the turnover margin, while the Cardinals are -1The Bears are converting 42.9 percent of their redzone trips into touchdowns, which ranks 25th. The Cardinals rank 19th, converting 50 percent of their redzone trips, however they’ve had just two trips through two games.The Cardinals defense is 31st in third downs, allowing 50 percent of opponents to gain a first, their offense ranks dead last in third down conversion at 20 percent.This year, 39 times players have passed for more than Arizona QB Sam Bradford’s 243 yards passing in a single game. That is Bradford’s two game total.Bradford has not thrown a touchdown since week one of last season.Prediction: I think that this is a winnable game for the Bears, which scares me into thinking they will lose, so I think the Cards win 6-3. For my pick on the over/under check out my piece over on Sports Bet Collective by clicking here. (First pick is now free!)
