Mitch Trubisky is growing up and other NFL takeaways from week10

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The Bears have a genuine quarterback.  That’s one of the biggest takeaways from the tenth Sunday of the 2018 NFL season.  Mitch Trubisky threw for 355 yards and three TDs in the Bears 34-22 win over the Lions.  Allen Robinson celebrated his return to the Bears lineup by catching six passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns.  The Bears are a genuinely talented passing team.  While the Lions stifled the Bears ground game, it didn’t matter.  While Trubisky will continue to have his ups and downs, the question if Mitch Trubisky is capable of being a winning NFL quarterback is settled.

And there's more

The Bears defense also had a big day, recording six sacks and coming up with three turnovers.  The Bears are a viable playoff contender.  Meanwhile, the Lions are a team that’s regressing.  I have no idea what it would take to turn them around.

The race for the middle of the pack

The Eagles continue to disappoint this season.  They lost to the Cowboys 27-20 in a pivotal game in the NFC East.  This Eagles season makes you wonder how the Eagles won last year’s Super Bowl.   Despite the win, the Cowboys still look to be a mediocre team, though Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper are had good games.  Elliott in particular stood out with 151 rushing yards on 19 carries.  He also caught six passes for 36 yards.  Look for both the Eagles and Cowboys to slog through the season at around .500.

A quirk in the schedule 

The Patriots took an unscheduled bye week, losing to the Titans 34-10.  The loss really doesn’t impact the Patriots, but the win gets the Titans to 5-4 and makes them a sleeper to reach the playoffs.  We’re 10 weeks into the NFL season and I still don’t know what to make of the Titans.

Remember me?  The Matt Barkley story

Who knew Matt Barkley was the key to making the Buffalo Bills go?  Barkley basically came off the street and led threw Bills to a 41-10 win over the Jets.  Bears fans probably remember when Barkley started six games for them in 2016, throwing for eight TDs and 14 interceptions.  Maybe it was his tendency to throw picks that attracted the Bills to Barkley.  If that was the case, they were disappointed as Barkley threw for two TDs and no interceptions.  Actually, Barkley isn’t a bad option for a team in desperate need for a QB.

Where's that clipboard?

Jets backup QB, Josh McCown, got the start for the Jets and proved that he’s a better mentor than actual player.  Of course, long term Sunday’s game didn’t mean anything to the Jets or the Bills.

Redskins pass the Bucs

How can a team pile up 498 yards of offense and score only three points?  Ask the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  As usual, turnovers were a primary culprit for the Bucs.  The Redskins offense wasn’t scintillating, but they managed to win 16-3 with 286 yards of offense.  Those stats tell the story of each team’s season.  The Bucs pile up lots of yards and lose, while the Redskins seem to muddle along, but win.

Not much to see here category

The Seahawks gave the Rams a run for their money, but ultimately the Rams hung on to win 36-31.  Meanwhile the Packers rolled to an easy win over the Dolphins.  Really, there weren’t a lot of surprises out of those four teams.

And in the bright future category...

In a game that may give a glimpse into the future, the Brawns pulled a minor upset and defeated the Falcons 28-16.  Baker Mayfield threw for three TDs and Nick Chubb ran for 176 yards on 20 rushes.  Included in those totals is a 92 yard TD run. Chubb also caught three passes for 33 yards and another TD.  Baker and Chubb could lead the Browns to the playoffs next season.  As for the Falcons, it’s about time to stick a fork in them.

In the event of a nuclear war the survivors would be roaches and Marvin Lewis

In the teams in free fall category, I’ll take the Jaguars and Bengals.  The Bengals got lit up to the tune of 51-14 at the hands of the Saints.  The Bengals have fired their defensive coordinator after that performance.  Amazingly, Bengals head coach, Marvin Lewis, like Fletch, lives.  The Bengals head coaching job seems to carry more job security than being Pope.  For the Saints, Drew Brees continues to be a MVP candidate.

Jaguars unable to press Colts Luck

The Jaguars lost to the Colts 29-26.  The Colts have been able to protect QB, Andrew Luck, and it’s paying huge dividends.  The Jags have fallen to 3-6 and have seemed listless for weeks now.

Just how high is the bar?

For those Cardinals fans looking for positives, the Cards held the Chiefs to “only” 26 points.  The negative side of that is the Cardinals scored 14 points.  How good is Chiefs QB, Patrick Mahomes?  He went 21/28 for 249 yards and two TDs and it seems like a down game.  To me, he and Drew Brees are the NFL’s top MVP candidates.