Mitch Trubisky took a lot of heat when he was in Chicago. The typical realities of being a #2 overall pick. People were so happy after his 2018 season. They felt the Bears organization finally had a quarterback. Then he completely fell apart. During that time, he shouldered most of the blame for the problems on offense. This despite many pointing the finger at Matt Nagy instead. In the end, one of them had to go. Trubisky was the choice.
When the Bears moved up to get Justin Fields last April, fans were convinced this was it. This was the true measuring stick of Nagy as an offensive guy. If he couldn’t make this talented young man successful, then he’d be proven a fraud. Sure enough, in Fields first career start on Sunday in Cleveland, it was an absolute disaster. The rookie managed just 68 yards passing, completing well under half his throws. All this while getting sacked nine times.
Several experts couldn’t fathom the game plan Nagy put together.
It didn’t even pretend to work to Fields’ strengths. Constant straight drops. Five-man protections. Limited commitment to the run. He basically asked the Browns defense to tee off and that is exactly what they did. Fields got no blocking and his receivers couldn’t get open. The kid had no chance. Watching that disaster, former defensive back Ryan Clark took a deep breath on ESPN Get Up and did something that probably wasn’t easy. He apologized to Trubisky, a player he criticized quite often the past few years.
This hammers home that GM Ryan Pace somehow failed two-fold in getting this franchise where it needed to go. Not only did he pick the wrong quarterback in 2017, but he also ended up saddling him with a head coach who was woefully unprepared for the job being asked of him. Though a leader and good locker room guy, Nagy cancels out any of those benefits due to his incredible offensive ineptitude. Changing quarterbacks have done nothing. He is the only common denominator in all this.
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Mitch Trubisky may never get another chance because of Nagy
That is the biggest shame in all of this. No team was willing to give the quarterback a chance to compete for a starting job this offseason. So he was forced to take a backup spot in Buffalo. This could be the rest of his career. People may never know if he might actually be a good quarterback and was just ruined by an incompetent head coach. All Bears fans care about at this point is not letting him potentially ruin another one in Fields. Eleven sacks in two games is a surefire way to get that poor kid shellshocked and eventually developing bad habits. See Sam Darnold.
Nagy said that the problems start with him. He needs to be better. The problem is he’s been saying that for over two years now. At some point, a guy needs to look in the mirror and realize he’s the one holding this team back. Mitch Trubisky actually had some success after Nagy gave up play calling midway through last season. It wasn’t great but it was an improvement. One would think that might’ve been a revelation. Bill Lazor did more in a half a season with no preparation than he could in over a year.
Predictably, it flew right over his head.
Nagy took back the call sheet and now through three games, the Bears have the second-worst offense in the NFL. Clark probably isn’t the only one having some regrets about what he said to Trubisky. They now realize what he was putting up with every single week. He was getting coached by a guy who belongs in high school and wasn’t allowed to vent his frustrations about it. If nothing else, the QB is probably just happy to be away from all that.
