Mitch Trubisky isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes. Chicago Bears fans continue to see that every week. It was his awful strip-sack against Detroit, the end zone interception in Minnesota, and most recently an interception in triple coverage against Jacksonville. The guy just can’t help himself sometimes. Yet one thing has become abundantly clear. Trubisky gives this team their best chance to win.
It always felt like head coach Matt Nagy might’ve overreacted when he yanked Trubisky in Atlanta. After all, the Bears were 2-0 to start the season. Even though they’d fallen behind 26-10 by that point, the QB had already led a huge 4th quarter comeback two weeks prior. Why not give him a chance to try again? Time has shown Nagy was looking for an excuse by that point.
He wanted to run his offense. Not the modified one for Trubisky.
So Nick Foles got the nod. When he led a big comeback to win the game, it seemed to validate Nagy’s decision from the outset. So the Bears moved forward with that new alignment and Trubisky found himself on the bench for the first time since the beginning of his rookie year. Yet warning signs began to show almost right away.
Foles, for all his experience and smarts, didn’t have the same athleticism or improvisational skills. As the Bears offensive line began to endure injuries, he started taking more hits. The offense faltered and before anybody could blink the Bears had fallen to 5-5 after starting 5-1. Foles then got injured, forcing Nagy to go back to Trubisky.
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Turns out the head coach should thank the football gods for intervening on his behalf.
Mitch Trubisky has completely turned the Bears around
It didn’t start right away. Chicago endured two rough losses to the Packers and Lions coming out of the bye. Yet in the midst of that something was brewing. The offense had suddenly begun to show a pulse. They scored 25 in Green Bay and then 30 against Detroit. David Montgomery was running the ball and Trubisky was taking advantage off play action. The Bears got back in the win column with a 36-7 pasting of Houston and then some sweet revenge in Minnesota with a 33-27 win over the Vikings.
Things reached a fever pitch in Jacksonville. After a slow start in the first half, Chicago rampaged the Jaguars in the second, rolling off four-straight TD drives. They finished with their fourth game in a row with at least 30 points in a 41-17 rout. Trubisky had a strong performance with 265 yards passing and three total touchdowns.
So far in 2020 he now has 1,803 yards, 16 TD passes, and 7 INTs in eight starts.
Stretched out to a 16-game season? That would equate to 3,606 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 14 INTs. It brings back a valid question. Did the Bears bench Mitch Trubisky too soon? The evidence is piling up by the week. Not only is he playing the best football of his career, he has the team at 8-7 and one win away from their second playoff berth in three years.
He himself is 6-2 as a starter this year. Yes, the competition hasn’t always been fierce but facts are facts. The Bears are winning and he is a primary reason why. Where would this team be now if he’d played every game this year? That could be a question that ends up haunting Nagy if they can’t finish the job against Green Bay next week.