Mitch Trubisky has his critics. This has been established. Most of them are in the national community. Media folk enamored with the likes of Patrick Mahomes who feel the young Chicago Bears quarterback will never be good because he’s not already throwing 50 touchdowns in a season. They aren’t alone though. Plenty in the Bears community still aren’t sold on him.
Much of the criticism centers around certain aspects of his game. Specifically his inconsistent accuracy down the field and the occasional bad decisions he makes throwing into tight coverage. While those are viable complaints,using them to overlap his entire game and call him a disappointment is neither fair nor true.
There were several key areas last season that proved he has what it takes to be a good NFL quarterbacks. Stat categories that can sometimes get overlooked but are so vitally important to team success.
Mitch Trubisky on 3rd down
Any self-respecting offensive coach will tell you that life in the NFL lives and dies on 3rd down. If you can’t move the chains consistently in those situations, you’re not going to score a lot of points. Defenses know this, which is why they often save their most creative and aggressive plays for those situations. Not that it matters to Trubisky.
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He was a constant reliable presence on 3rd down. He converted 48 times through the air last season for 1st downs, including seven touchdown passes and just three interceptions. He also converted an addition 16 times with his legs, running for 152 of his 421 yards in those situations. Part of the reason the Bears went from 29th to 9th in scoring was Trubisky keeping drives alive.
Mitch Trubisky in the 4th quarter
Bad starts were a bit of an issue for Trubisky last year, particularly in the 2nd quarter where he threw five of his 12 interceptions. However, one thing that remained consistent about him was his innate ability to buckle down as the games reached crunch time. Whenever the Bears needed him to deliver a key drive to either score or drain the clock? He almost always did.
In the 4th quarter, he completed 64.77% of his passes for 637 yards, five touchdowns, and just two interceptions. Both of those interceptions came in the first half of the year. So he was perfect down the stretch. The same was true in the playoff game against Philadelphia where he went 7-of-10 for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Mitch Trubisky against the NFC North
People can talk about the best of the NFC or the AFC. The truth of the matter is the success of a quarterback is so often determined by how he plays against the division. Tom Brady is 81-21 in his career against the AFC East. It’s not a coincidence that he’s had so much success at getting to the playoffs. He has made that division his personal stomping grounds for almost two decades.
Trubisky isn’t at that level yet, but he took a huge step in the right direction last year. Not only was he 4-1 against the NFC North, with the only loss being the opening night where the defense coughed up a 17-point lead, he also has the stats to back it up. He finished with 1,089 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions for a 97.9 passer rating.
The best passer rating Jay Cutler ever had against the division? That was 92.8 in 2011. So Trubisky is already ahead of the curve there.
