The NFL is a week to week league. No one knows this better than the Chicago Bears. Just a few weeks ago everything seemed lost. The defense seemed to have regressed. Matt Nagy’s was in the hot seat and third-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky was all but a lost cause. That being said, did we write this Bears team off too soon? More specifically did we write Trubisky off too early?
I think the easy answer here, is yes. Yes, we did. I’ll admit I (like many others) had been very critical of the 25-year-old quarterback. Year two in Matt Nagy’s offense was supposed to be the coming-out party for Mitch and up until about five weeks ago, this season had been a complete and utter dumpster fire. Unfortunately, when you play quarterback in the NFL, a lot of the blame is put solely on the signal-caller despite there being a lot more problems than just the quarterback play. If we take a look back to earlier in the season, the struggles again were not just on Trubisky. Here is everything that was going wrong for the 2019 Chicago Bears:
- Matt Nagy’s play calling and decision making at critical times were horrendous.
- The Bears wide receivers were leading the NFL in drops.
- Eddy Pineiro couldn’t consistently make kicks.
- The defense (as good as they’ve been) weren’t making crucial stops when needed.
- The injuries have continually been stacking as the season progresses.
- Special teams have been a roller coaster ride going from good to ‘what the hell are they doing’.
- The Bears are also playing a first-place schedule which leaves no room for error. Not an excuse but simply a fact worth mentioning.
Some might call this the perfect storm. Even with all that has gone astray for the Bears, they never gave up. They never lost faith and continued to battle. That is a testament to Ryan Pace, bringing in the right type of guys and also Matt Nagy. As much as I have criticized Nagy, he is a true leader who still learning the ropes to being a head coach in the NFL. Now that we did a brief overview of how disappointing the first eight games of the season have been, let’s take a look at the last five games.
Trubisky has been ballin’
Has there ever been a young quarterback that receives as much scrutiny as Mitch Trubisky? It seems everyone, including analysts, have taken their shots at the 25-year-old. Has it all been fair? No. But his play has been really really bad up until about five weeks ago.
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Mitchell Trubisky’s last five games:
4-1 record
13 Touchdowns
1,320 yards
99.7 rating
Are things starting to click for the third-year pro? Time will tell, but for now, it seems Trubisky is playing with a confidence that is at an all-time high.
Matt Nagy is adapting to Trubisky’s strengths
The only thing that has changed more than Mitch in the last five weeks, could be Matt Nagy’s play-calling. It seems that Nagy hasn’t been willing to use one of Trubisky’s biggest strengths:
His legs.
Trubisky is a phenomenal athlete and when he is able to use his legs, he seems to be a completely different quarterback. Case in point.
Should we keep a blind eye to Trubsky’s struggles early on in the season? No. But let’s not take what Trubisky is doing in these last five games lightly.
Mitch Trubisky is built for Chicago
I think one of the more underrated qualities regarding Mitchell Trubisky is his fight/tenacity. The adversity has been here all season. There have been multiple times where he could’ve mailed this season in. He didn’t and continues to prove everyone wrong. Here is Bears WR Anthony Miller on how he feels about his quarterback:
“We have been with Mitch Trubisky no matter (what). A lot of people been doubting him, but I think he’s a great quarterback. And whatever they got to say about my quarterback, they can come see me. That’s my guy.”
I want to end with this:
I am very proud of Mitchell Trubisky. This season has been really rough for him but I’ll tell you what.
This kid has all the heart in the world.
Hell, I might regret this a few weeks but I’m gonna say it.
For better or worse, I’m all in on Mitchell Trubisky.
