Dan Fouts is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. He more than a lot of guys helped to revolutionize the passing game as we know it today during his heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The guy put up ridiculous numbers for the time and came a bad defense away from reaching the Super Bowl. What many people forget? His career did not get off to the best start. So he more than many understands what Mitch Trubisky is going through.
One could argue Fouts wouldn’t have survived in today’s NFL. In his first five seasons with the San Diego Chargers, he completed barely 53% of his passes for 34 touchdowns and 57 interceptions for a 64.5 passer rating in 43 games. If that happened today, he’d have been benched or traded. The Chargers though stayed the course and eventually decided to bring in a new head coach. One with a keen mind when it came to the passing game. His name was Don Coryell.
It took some time to get Fouts up to speed, but soon the guy was slinging it like never before. This would put him on a path to Canton. So he more than many has a perspective that can empathize with Trubisky. He also understands what the primary issue with the Bears quarterback is and what must be done to get him back on track. He explained on ESPN 1000 with “Kap & Co.”
“I think that it all comes back to confidence. Lack of confidence leads to indecision. Indecision leads to poor decisions and you add it all together, you have an interception or an incompletion and then a loss. So get the confidence back any way you can and primarily the best way to do that is go out and have success.”
Mitch Trubisky still has eight games to turns things around
The crazy thing is this entire narrative that Trubisky is a lost cause took place in the window of the first eight games of 2019. Is it so crazy to think that he might be able to change it again in the second half? He couldn’t ask for a better setup to do so. These next three games against the Lions, Rams, and Giants will involve the 31st, 19th, and 25th ranked pass defenses. If he can somehow string together some good performance with hopefully some wins included? His confidence might start to come around.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
It did for Fouts and one could argue the start to his NFL career was much worse than what Trubisky is experiencing. If nothing else, this offers a sliver of hope that the Bears may not have to go hunting for a new quarterback in 2020 as many project. Matt Nagy and his coaching staff have begun to make adjustments to the offense. They’re playing him under center more with I-formation runs involved. More play action and bootlegs as was shown against Philadelphia.
Trubisky seems to play better in those conditions. Perhaps a full-time commitment to them might just snap him out of his funk.
