If Chicago Bears fans weren’t sure whether the nation at large was groomed by the media to hate on their quarterback before, they got further evidence down in Orlando on Sunday. The Mitch Trubisky Pro Bowl experience was a mixed bag. He struggled somewhat, throwing one interception and almost had another. It wasn’t the best day for him. What’s incredible is that many people tried to use that game as validation of him being a bust.
Seriously. Never mind the fact that the game itself is a glorified scrimmage where the players are going at half speed most of the time. There are tons of reasons why it was highly inadvisable to use that in any shape or form to evaluate Trubisky as a quarterback.
Start with the weather. It had to be one of the worst weather days in Pro Bowl history. It was cold for Orlando, even this time of year and it was pouring rain most of the day. Trubisky was under pressure almost constantly by the AFC defense. The almost interception occurred as his arm was being hit. Last but not least, he actually didn’t have the worst day of the quarterbacks there.
Andrew Luck, the multi-time Pro Bowler himself went 7-of-17 for 81 yards and an interception. Trubisky went 5-of-9 for 39 yards and an INT. At least he completed more of his passes. Yet people took opportunities to trash him anyway. Just read the comments on a tweet by Patrick Mahomes featuring a photo of he, Trubisky, and Deshaun Watson.
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They said we had a bad Qb draft class! 2 years later… @Mtrubisky10 @deshaunwatson https://t.co/qaasy0XrOd
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes5) January 27, 2019
Mitch Trubisky Pro Bowl performance means same as preseason game: nothing
Trying to evaluate Trubisky off a game like this is supreme folly. The players are disinterested to start with. Then there’s the fact he wasn’t playing in any sort of familiar offense. The NFC team was run by the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff who actually had Kellen Moore performing in his very first game as an offensive coordinator. There was little in the way of scheming.
It was a glorified preseason game, but worse since it meant even less. At least preseason games offer teams a chance to evaluate their rosters. Even though the Pro Bowl had so many Bears there, it did nothing for their team in the grand scheme of things. So it’s little wonder Trubisky played like somebody who had bigger things on his mind.
By the time free agency arrived in March, most people won’t even remember what happened in the Pro Bowl. It merely served as an opportunity for haters to bash him, whether it was based in logic or not.
