It truly is incredible what a couple of wins can do to the perception of a player. Mitch Trubisky was viewed as nothing more than a slightly better option at quarterback than Nick Foles just a few weeks ago. He threw two bad interceptions in Green Bay. Then he fumbled on a sack against Detroit that cost them a win. Yet now after two wins over Houston and Minnesota with the Chicago Bears offense topping 30+ points in both? People seem ready to buy in all over again.
Why? It’s not like Trubisky has suddenly started beating up on good teams. Houston was 4-8 when the Bears played them. Minnesota was 6-7. Both had below-average defenses. It isn’t like the 26-year old quarterback had a signature performance against a Super Bowl contender. He ran into two teams that weren’t that good and played well. A lot of this due to the Bears playing more to his strengths with bootlegs and moving pockets.
Yet people need to accept reality.
Trubisky isn’t the reason for this offensive turnaround. Credit for that belongs with David Montgomery. People have called on the Bears to make a renewed commitment to the running game for months. Take the ball out of Trubisky’s hands. Put it on their strong, relentless running back and the offensive line to set the tone.
Now when they finally do that, it’s the quarterback who gets the credit? The NFL is weird. Montgomery is a one-man show lately. He has 439 yards rushing in the past four games with 137 yards receiving and six total touchdowns. His 146-yard rushing effort against the Vikings was a career-best in what was easily the most pivotal game of the season.
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Chicago Bears offense is back to what it does best
It’s so odd the Bears took this long to regain an identity they’d had established back in 2018 with Jordan Howard. When they fed him, the offense had rhythm and Trubisky played with much more efficiency. Somewhere since then, Matt Nagy decided he hated that style of offense and tried to skip ahead to where the QB was supposed to be Patrick Mahomes and just sling the ball everywhere.
Not until the head coach finally gave up play-calling to Bill Lazor did the team get back to that style of attack. Lo and behold the moment they go back to it the team starts scoring points. Keep in mind since last year the team is now 7-3 in games where Montgomery has 17 carries or more. The Chicago Bears offense has averaged 22.90 points scored in those games. That compared to 19.10 with 16 or less.
Translation? Montgomery should be the focus of this offense.
Trubisky is who he is. He’s an average quarterback who can make some plays in the passing game when given good enough opportunities. The problems show up when you try to put the game on his shoulders. Too often that leads to some backbreaking turnovers. It’s the 4th year. This is who the guy is. Good sometimes but not often enough to treat him like a franchise quarterback.