When your offense ranks among the worst in the NFL, people start grasping for solutions. The Chicago Bears have reached this point. After another ugly showing in Los Angeles against the Rams, people were pointing fingers in all directions. Most of them either at Matt Nagy because of his ongoing issues with play calling or the overmatched offensive line. Yet Nick Foles too couldn’t escape blame after two bad interceptions. This inevitably started the chants for the return of Mitch Trubisky.
Most of those voices were from disgruntled fans who never thought the former #2 pick was the problem to begin with. It was always Nagy or the offensive line. Or both. Explanations are never that simple though. Trubisky deserved a lot of the criticism he received. Did the benching come a little sooner than it probably should have?
One could make that argument.
Now it isn’t just fans who are pressing the Bears to undo their switch to Foles. Former quarterback Greg McElroy spoke on ESPN’s Get Up about this ongoing eyesore this offense has become. He made it clear that unless Nagy was willing to introduce more creativity into the system in order to prevent Foles from being a stationary target, the best decision for the team was obvious.
They had to go back to Trubisky. Not because he’s the superior mind or anything. Simply because he’s able to use his legs to create plays. Standing behind an offensive line like this, that has become an absolute necessity.
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.@GregMcElroy thinks the Bears need to consider reverting back to Trubisky at QB.
"If they're not willing to change [play calling], the guy that gives them the best chance to win is Mitch Trubisky." pic.twitter.com/H5nLXATz1m
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 27, 2020
Mitch Trubisky didn’t have to face what Foles has
One thing people are neglecting in their mad dash to bring back the Trubisky train is context. Has Foles played well? Not at all. That being said, it’s not like the Bears’ schedule has done them any favors. Every single one of his starts thus far has come against a top 10 pass defense. That includes facing some of the best pass rushers in the league in DeForest Buckner, Shaq Barrett, and Aaron Donald.
Asking him to stand behind an offensive line with no star power and getting little help from the play calling was asking for trouble. Does anybody believe Trubisky would’ve fared any better against Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, or Los Angeles? Everybody saw what the Rams did to him last year. Yes, the guy can move around, but that isn’t a magic potion to solve all the problems this offense has.
So what is something realistic they can do?
Two things stand out. Nagy can give the play sheet to somebody else. Bill Lazor and John DeFilippo both have experience calling plays from prior jobs in the NFL. That might allow him to focus more on managing the games while either man could find a way to get this offense into a rhythm.
The other thing is finding one or even two veteran offensive linemen on the market who can come in to try stabilizing this front. It’s not an ideal solution but it’s within their power because going back to Trubisky isn’t happening.