Mitch Trubisky had a rough start to the 2019 season. He averaged less than 200 yards passing per game and went six full quarters without a touchdown. All this while Chicago Bears fans had to watch Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson continue to light up scoreboards. If the quarterback couldn’t deliver even a modest performance on Monday Night Football in Washington? It’s hard to imagine panic not setting in.
Thankfully things worked out. Trubisky was on point most of the night, going 25-of-31 for 231 yards, three touchdown passes, and an interception. He never seemed like he wasn’t certain of what he was trying to do and he also made some impressive throws. None more so than his scrambling 36-yard strike to Taylor Gabriel near the end of the 1st half. It was another reminder of how good he can be when forced to improvise.
So what was the difference this time? Why was the quarterback able to finally get in a rhythm? Well playing a bad Washington Redskins defense always helps. However, there was also a notable tweak to the execution of the Bears passing attack. It didn’t appear right away, but as the first half progressed they started to run more of them, often to positive effective. A play called the shallow cross.
Mitch Trubisky got easy completions on these plays
One of the things about Trubisky through the first two weeks was that the Bears didn’t often find him a lot of easy completions. That can make it difficult to find a rhythm during a game. This time around the Bears incorporated more crossing routes into their game plan. Such plays are easy reads for the QB and should be an easy completion as well if the receiver runs the route properly. With guys like Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller, this sort of play should be their bread and butter.
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It’s surprising they haven’t run more of these plays.
Hopefully, once they review the tape they’ll realize it needs to be involved more often, along with other variations of the crossing route. Maybe even some quick slants, another type of play that can get Trubisky some easy throws. Matt Nagy is a smart coach. It’s apparent he’s already made some adjustments to what the team is doing on offense. It comes down to making further tweaks until the formula is perfected. This game was a step in the right direction.
