Thanksgiving feast: Bears QB Mitch Trubisky plays his best game of season vs. Lions

Give Trubisky the bronzed turkey leg, pilgrim hat, turkey snood or whatever ridiculous award commemorates Thanksgiving’s standout player.

SHARE Thanksgiving feast: Bears QB Mitch Trubisky plays his best game of season vs. Lions
Chicago Bears v Detroit Lions

Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky looks to pass against the Lions on Thursday.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

DETROIT — Give Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky the bronzed turkey leg, pilgrim hat, turkey snood or whatever ridiculous award commemorates Thanksgiving’s standout player.

Sure, the Lions had the NFL’s third-worst passing defense and had allowed the fourth-most yards in the league entering the game Thursday at Ford Field. It’s a low bar, but the Bears’ 24-20 victory was, quite simply, the best game Trubisky has played this season.

With the Bears trailing 20-17 with 6:40 left, Trubisky marched them 90 yards — completing 4 of 5 passes for 81 yards in the process — and gave them the lead on a three-yard touchdown pass to running back David Montgomery. He finished 29-for-38 for a season-high 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His 118.1 passer rating and three touchdowns were his most since, well, the last time he played the Lions.

‘‘A lot of players made a lot of plays, but today was Mitch’s day,’’ Bears coach Matt Nagy said. ‘‘It was his day. He did a lot of things today in regard to making special throws at special times.’’

None was more special than a 35-yard completion to receiver Anthony Miller on third-and-four from the Bears’ 16. Receiver Allen Robinson had dropped a pass for what would have been a first down on the previous play, and the Bears seemed destined to bemoan another missed opportunity.

Miller ran a corner route against man coverage from the left slot, and Trubisky lofted the ball beautifully over cornerback Justin Coleman.

Trubisky then found Miller down the right sideline on the Bears’ next third down. Miller lined up in the right slot, ran a go route against Coleman and landed 32 yards later at the Lions’ 2.

‘‘We’ve had some tough times this year, but for him to fight through it and make plays . . . like, that’s a situation where we need guys to step up and make plays,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘It might not always be the perfect play-call, but if it’s gray, make a play. Not just the throws, but then these guys are making the catches.’’

The Bears took a delay-of-game penalty after they got to the 2 but scored when Trubisky dropped back and settled on a pass to a wide-open Montgomery, who had released over the middle, two plays later.

Nagy cornered Trubisky after the play and told him: ‘‘That’s what special players do right there.’’

He was impressed that Trubisky followed his progressions to get to Montgomery, his third option. Praising a fundamental play sounds silly, but it’s an improvement over the mistakes Trubisky has been committing all season.

‘‘That’s a growth for Mitchell, getting through progression one, progression two and making plays happen,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘I think that’s what I’m probably most proud of.’’

Tight end Jesper Horsted wasn’t the first option on his 18-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, either, though the Bears schemed to get him open by faking a toss play in the opposite direction.

‘‘I just feel like I’m doing my job,’’ said Trubisky, who was evaluated after his head hit the ground on a sack in the fourth quarter but never missed a snap. ‘‘It’s my job to get the ball to the playmakers. Whatever the defense gives us, I’ve got to put the ball in the right spot, especially when everyone else does their job. . . . 

‘‘We’ve just got to keep getting better and be proud of that growth, but the bottom line is that I’ve got to just do my job.’’

On Sunday, Trubisky bemoaned the Bears’ offense wasn’t good enough in a victory against the Giants. On Thursday, it was.

He was, too.

‘‘It was such a huge team win from what Mitch was, quote-unquote, dealing with on the outside,’’ cornerback Prince Amukamara said. ‘‘You can just see that he’s relentless and that he stares adversity in the face. He’s been balling for us.’’

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