The Bears have struggled to score in the third quarter most of the season, but that certainly wasn't the case in Sunday's decisive 41-17 win over the Jaguars.
The revitalized offense produced touchdowns on all three of its third-period possessions in Jacksonville, turning a 13-10 halftime lead into a comfortable 34-10 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
"That was obviously the turning point in the game," said coach Matt Nagy.
The Bears' third-quarter touchdowns came on 6-yard runs by Mitchell Trubisky and David Montgomery and Trubisky's 22-yard pass to Jimmy Graham—their second TD connection of the game.
"We just kind of just said, 'Let's just go out and be us,'" Trubisky said. "We weren't finishing the way we wanted to finish. We weren't executing on all cylinders like we can, so let's play 11 as one, let's go out there and be us, let's have some fun in the third quarter in the second half. There wasn't really too much said. Everyone knew what they had to do. But we just went out and did it, and it made for a fun third quarter."
The Bears' 21 points in the third quarter Sunday were more than the 17 they had totaled in the third period in their first 14 games this season. After being shut out in the third quarter in 11 of their first 12 contests, the Bears have now produced third-period points in three straight games.
"We were super-focused on scoring seven," Graham said. "We talked about it. We put an emphasis on it, having a great drive to start the half, to kind of get that momentum in our way, and we ended up doing it. It's a tribute to Trubisky and to our O-line, to our tight ends and receivers, just really buying in and believing in each other. I think that's what really sparked it."
On fire: The offense remained red hot Sunday, scoring five touchdowns and generating 391 total yards against the Jaguars. In five games since the Bears reinstalled Trubisky as the starting quarterback and reconfigured the offensive line, they've produced 19 TDs and averaged 33.0 points and 387.4 yards. In the last seven games that preceded those changes, the offense mustered just nine TDs and averaged 16.7 points and 272.1 yards.
Century mark: Allen Robinson II tied a career high with 10 receptions against his former team Sunday, giving him 100 catches this season—the first time he's reached 100 in his seven-year NFL career. He's the first Bears player to catch 100 passes since running back Matt Forte had 102 in 2014 and the first receiver since Brandon Marshall had 100 in 2013.
"For him to have 100 catches here against his former team, it's pretty cool," Nagy said. "But you get to a point where you realize a player like him that makes these plays and does so well to help our team out, the confidence keeps growing with these guys. He's a big part of the success."
Robinson will wait until the season is over to reflect on the accomplishment, but he conceded that it was special it happened in Jacksonville, where he spent the first four seasons of his NFL career.
"I try not to get too much into the emotional side of it, especially with it being in-season," Robinson said. "But after the season looking back at it, I think that it will definitely be something cool just as far as how that played out. But again, right now, where we're at in the season, everything is business."
Robinson also led the Bears in receiving yards for the 13th straight game with 103. It was the 16th 100-yard game of his career and eighth with the Bears. In addition, he extended his franchise record with a reception of at least 20 yards to 13 consecutive games.
Running man: Montgomery rushed for 95 yards and one TD on 23 carries Sunday, increasing his season total to 1,001 yards. He's the first Bears running back to reach the 1,000-yard plateau since Jordan Howard in 2017.
Montgomery has compiled more than half of his season total in the last five games, rushing for 529 yards and six TDs on 94 carries, a 5.6-yard average.
"The guys up front are doing a hell of a job," Montgomery said. "They have been doing a hell of a job for a long time and I appreciate those guys. Me being able to get in a rhythm is not up to me; it's up to those guys up front, and they always do that for me. I was able to get in a rhythm from the help of those guys."
Still streaking: Cairo Santos has now made 24 straight field goals after hitting his only two attempts Sunday from 20 and 40 yards. In the process, Santos tied Robbie Gould's team record in a single season, though Gould made 26 in a row spanning the 2005 and 2006 campaigns.
Santos has now connected on 27-of-29 field-goal tries this year (93.1 percent), last missing in a Week 3 win in Atlanta.
Catch this: Graham caught TD passes of 5 and 22 yards Sunday, the 17th multi-TD performance of his career and second this season. He now leads the Bears with eight TD receptions, his most since he had 10 in 2017 in his final year with the Seahawks.
See the game unfold through the lenses of our sideline photographers as the Bears face off against the Jaguars in Jacksonville.