We want to be first in just about everything, and it seems that’s particularly true for burying young quarterbacks.

The reviews on Mitchell Trubisky has mostly been negative through the Chicago Bears‘ first three games. Trubisky wasn’t great, and that brought out sweeping opinions. Search “Trubisky bust” on social media and you’ll run out of time before you get to the end. Yet, Trubisky entered Sunday with 15 career starts. And 12 of those came with John Fox’s coaching staff last season, which was as quarterback unfriendly as you could find after Jeff Fisher was fired. Those almost shouldn’t count.

In Trubisky’s 16th career start, he looked like a former second overall pick in a dominant 48-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had 354 yards on just 19 completions. He ran for another 53 yards on just three attempts. He had six touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a 154.8 rating, just short of the perfect 158.3, which means there are some flaws in the passer rating stat.

Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had an enormous day in a blowout Bears win. (AP) More

One big game doesn’t mean Trubisky is great or has arrived. Also: Trubisky’s uneven first 15 games didn’t mean he was bad. There’s no way we can know this soon, no matter how hard we want an immediate answer.

We want quarterback evaluation to be like making instant oatmeal. Every game, sometimes every pass, seems to be a referendum on a young quarterback. We didn’t learn from putting Jared Goff through the ringer for a bad rookie season. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL now. Sometimes we get a Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson, incredible talents who play like superstars from their first game on. It doesn’t mean everyone is on that timetable.

Trubisky looked Sunday like he should end up being a good starter. Even if you discount one of his six touchdowns because it was a quick-flip goal-line play that has becomes popular suddenly, what he did the rest of the day was fantastic. Playing his fourth game in a brand-new offensive system that promised to be quite complicated, Trubisky looked more comfortable than he had in his first three up-and-down games. He spread the ball around. He’s the second quarterback in NFL history to throw five touchdown passes to five different receivers in the first half of a game. When receivers were schemed to get open, he found them.

The Bears hadn’t had a five-touchdown game from a quarterback since 1949. Trubisky did it in the first half. He had 289 yards before halftime. Had the Buccaneers been more competitive, Trubisky could have tied or set the NFL record of seven touchdowns in a game. This sure looked like a coming-out party.

“Hopefully, this will be something I can look back on and say, ‘This is where it all started,’” Trubisky said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

And maybe when the Bears return from their Week 5 bye, Trubisky will struggle again. It will be his 17th career start. He’ll still be 24 years old, in the first year of a brand-new offense. He’ll miss some passes, the Bears will probably lose some more games, and he’ll be the subject of scorn again. Patience isn’t a virtue often afforded to NFL quarterbacks anymore.

Trubisky has shown the ability to be a good quarterback before, albeit in short spurts. He has a good arm, plus athleticism – there’s a good reason he was the No. 2 overall pick a year ago. And maybe he’s right, and what we saw Sunday is the start of something really big. It’s common for a quarterback to make a leap in his second season, or even his third. It’s too early to say, good or bad, what Trubisky will be.

But, for one week at least, Trubisky doesn’t have to worry about his every pass being dissected. Just some peace and quiet for the quarterback who has now started one full season’s worth of games.