CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO/AP) — All Mitchell Trubisky cared about was helping the Chicago Bears get back to winning. He insisted the other story that got most of the attention during the week wasn't on his mind.
Trubisky threw three touchdown passes to outplay Deshaun Watson in their first meeting since they entered the NFL, and the Bears snapped a six-game losing streak with a 36-7 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
David Montgomery ran for an 80-yard touchdown on Chicago’s first play from scrimmage, helping the Bears stop their worst skid since the 2002 team dropped eight in a row to match a franchise record. Chicago (6-7) sacked Watson seven times, including a safety by Khalil Mack, to tie a career high for the Texans quarterback.
General manager Ryan Pace’s decision to draft Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick in 2017 when he could have gone with Watson or Patrick Mahomes drew even more buzz than usual during the week. But on Sunday, Chicago’s quarterback delivered.
“I was just so focused on what I needed to do for my team that it really allowed me to block everything out,” Trubisky said. “Just the situation that we were in, being on that little losing streak, that makes you sick to your stomach. I was willing to do whatever it took for the team today, just go out there and get a win. ... It was just easy to block out because I knew what I was focused on doing today.”
Trubisky buried the Texans (4-9) in the first half, throwing for three TDs as the Bears grabbed a 30-7 lead.
Facing one of the NFL’s worst defenses, he completed 24 of 33 passes for 267 yards. He posted a 126.7 rating in his third start since returning to the lineup with Nick Foles (hip and glute) injured.
Montgomery tied the fourth-longest run in franchise history and finished with a season-high 113 yards on 11 carries.
Allen Robinson caught nine passes for 123 yards, matching a season high and giving him 1,027 for the season. It’s the second straight year he has reached 1,000 yards.
Mack went four games without a sack before he got Watson for a safety in the second quarter. He also recovered a fumble by Duke Johnson in the first period and deflected a pass in the second.
Roquan Smith had two sacks. And the Monsters of the Midway came away with their first win since they beat Carolina in Week 6.
“It’s just a start," coach Matt Nagy said. "It's been a while. But when you go through moments like this, you stay resilient and you stay persistent and you trust in one another. That’s what we’ve done.”
WBBM Newsradio's Josh Liss and Pat Cassidy spoke to Bears coach Matt Nagy following the team's win Sunday against the Houston Texans.
Liss: How good does it feel Matt, snapping the skid in style?
"It feels good. It's been a long time, as we all know, but for these guys to keep fighting and get that win is what we had to do, and I thought all three phases really played well together," Nagy said.
Cassidy: Congratulations coach. Yeah, all three phases firing on all cylinders there. The David Montgomery run, 80-yarder to start the game. You think that kind of kickstarted the whole team in some ways?
"I think it did. Anytime you have a nice, long run like that that ends in a touchdown it gets the juices going a little bit for everybody on the sideline and you could feel it. The defense fed off of that, and they were able to get back to back sacks, one for a safety, special teams played well. We hit our field goals when we had to kick those, and offensively we kind of got it going, they were clicking, those guys played well," Nagy said.
Liss: What's clicked with Mitch Trubisky? Seems to have walked through the fire to a degree this season. He said "it's one play at a time," that's his approach. He's being humble. It is much more than that. How have you liked seeing Mitch come to this level these last few games?
"Yeah, you know what I think it is, I think that it's really just the offense in general, right now. We have some consistency on the offensive line as far as the guys that are in there. And then we kind of started to find that identity with everybody kind of clicking on the same wavelengths so it's good right now," Nagy said. "Mitch is making good decisions. We are mixing it up with stuff under center, from the gun. Guys are making plays when they get the football in their hand. I think you are seeing a lot of unselfishness, where guys are blocking down field, guys are making plays. There's just an energy and a confidence and a momentum right now that we have going offensively, so we just have to keep that going."
Liss: Cole Kmet seems to encapsulate that enthusiasm that you are talking about, that energy. He was really showing off yesterday. One of his four catches, he couldn't be brought down. What stands out from your rookie tight end's performance?
"Yeah, he's just a stud. He came running off the field yesterday and said 'no one is going to bring me down. No one is going to bring me down.' And just the guys hear that and he shows it. When guys try to do arm tackles on him, he's just too big of a guy...we just have to keep feeding him the ball," Nagy said.
Liss: Dominating defense in performance with seven sacks and a safety. What stands out from that side of the ball?
"I think just that. Early on we lost contain on Deshaun Watson a few times. He got a couple first downs with his legs. Then we got them into a one-dimensional game, where they had to throw the ball a little bit more. We were able to generate pressure in that box, and so I thought we did a good job with our gains up front, and when the guys had the chance to make a tackle and sack him, they did it. Those are body shots that add up, and so that part was really good. You just kind of felt havoc out there on defense and they were opportunistic," Nagy said.
Liss: Those body shots add up, like you say. At Minnesota on Sunday. You'd like to be running away with the division of course, but here you are, despite it all, playing meaningful football in mid-December.
"Yeah, I think that is what's real. Despite it all, I think it has been a rollercoaster season for us, but the biggest thing for all of us to understand, for our players to grasp is that this is a huge game coming up for us in the division, with a team, like you said, is right there in the mix for playoffs with us, so we just have to keep focusing and have good practices like we did all week, and understand how we played against them last time and what their strengths and weaknesses are and we got to focus on going there and getting a win. If we bring that same attitude that we brought this past weekend, then I think we will have a good chance," Nagy said.
You can hear more from Matt Nagy on the Bears Coaches Show on Mondays at 7 p.m.
The Chicago Bears travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings on Sunday at noon for Game 13.
