CHICAGO _ Allen Robinson shed the professional cloak for a few moments earlier this month in London.
The Bears wide receiver had just caught his second touchdown pass against the Raiders, a 16-yard, back-shoulder jump ball from Chase Daniel to put the Bears up 21-17 after a miserable start.
He barely paused before launching the football high into the stands at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, fixating the crowd with a piercing stare as if he were a superhero with lasers beaming from his eyes. As the many Bears fans in attendance roared at the comeback, Robinson bounced toward his teammates to celebrate and jogged off the field _ his self-possession intact again.
The deeper Robinson gets into his strong second season with the Bears, the more he shows the fierce competitiveness that boils underneath his mature approach to the game.
The 26-year-old wide receiver is the MVP of the Bears offense through six games, with 41 catches for 464 yards and three touchdowns _ on pace for 109 catches and 1,237 yards. He has been the only consistently good part of a unit whose coach and quarterback have flopped in their second season together. But that hasn't dampened what offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich calls "an unbelievable edge" that is "the X-factor that most people don't get to see."
"I'm a very competitive person _ that could be up 20 or down 20," Robinson said. "As long as I'm in between those lines, I'm playing and trying to make plays. It doesn't matter the scoreboard. I'm not playing against the scoreboard. I'm not playing against the clock. I'm playing play to play, trying to be the best player I can be every play."
That attitude is carrying Robinson through the Bears' fog into what could be the best season statistically of his career.
For the Bears to turn their season around, they'll need more help from other players on offense _ but they'll also need Robinson to continue his dominating play.
