Mitch Trubisky cannot and should not be free of responsibility for the Chicago Bears offensive struggles in 2019. He isn’t making enough positive plays. The inconsistent mechanics and decision-making. The timidity in regards to attacking down the field or running with the ball. His erratic ball placement that often leads to overthrows. It’s frustrating beyond belief and why many feel he’s putting himself in danger of being replaced by next season.
At the same time, head coach Matt Nagy has remained emphatic that the offensive woes are not just about the quarterback. This has proven exceedingly true. Most have pointed fingers at the offensive line for its inconsistent pass protection. However, not enough people have taken stock of Trubisky’s weapons. Notably the ones he’s thrown the ball to. Between the wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs the Bears currently have the highest number of dropped passes in the NFL at 22.
Not only that but according to Greg Auman, their drop rate is far and away the highest in the league as well. It’s one thing for the quarterback to overthrow passes, take bad sacks, or miss-read coverages. One thing he can’t do is catch the ball. There is no question that untimely drops have been a notable killer for several of their offensive drives this season.
Mitch Trubisky has to get better but so do his weapons
People have been on Trubisky’s case all year that he needs to get better. This is true. He knows that. It’s about time though that more gets demanded from his receivers too. All but Allen Robinson have disappointed to a large degree this season. The same goes for Tarik Cohen who has more drops than anyone else on the roster. Yet the position that has truly let the offense down is tight end. Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen haven’t just been disappointing. They’ve been in invisible.
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It wasn’t until Shaheen was benched and Burton went down with a calf injury that a Bears tight end actually scored a touchdown. This coming from Ben Braunecker against Detroit. Given how crucial that position is to the type of offense Nagy runs, it’s only making things harder on Trubisky. Credit the young quarterback for not saying a word about the issue. He’s focused on playing better each week and winning. It falls on Cohen, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, and others to pick up the slack.
