The decision everybody felt was coming at some point arrived on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. Mitch Trubisky, after 44 games as the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears, saw himself get benched in the second half against the Falcons. Nick Foles took over and after a rocky start unloaded for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead an improbable 16-point comeback to win 30-26. Jimmy Graham was at the center of it all.
So it made perfect sense for the Bears media to ask him what in the world happened. Over the course of answering questions, an interesting one came up. What did Foles do differently that enabled the offense to finally find a rhythm and engineer that comeback? Graham’s answer painted a pretty clear picture of why Trubisky was benched.
“His execution and taking over the kills and the calls was pretty special. He was out there ad-libbing a bit, for sure. Checking and changing some plays. There was like one play called and I’m like, ‘We have that?'”
This was evident on the decisive play of the game. The winning TD throw to Anthony Miller was in fact drawn up in the huddle by Foles. He told Miller exactly what to do and where to run. They got the coverage they were looking for and the rest is history.
Jimmy Graham alluded to Trubisky’s greatest flaw
This is basically something Bears fans have heard for years now. Trubisky always had talent. This was never in question. However, it seemed like the mental part of the game overwhelmed him way too often. Teams that disguised their coverages, played a lot of zones, and unloaded crafty blitzes always seemed to catch him by surprise. He couldn’t pick up on what they were trying to do and it led to constant missed throws and bad sacks.
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Foles has proven countless times that he is a much more cerebral quarterback. He understands and sees the game well. That is why he has a Super Bowl ring. People can talk about his ugly times in Jacksonville and St. Louis. The reality is when he has help around him and a good scheme, he’ll make plays. That is exactly what happened on Sunday.
He may not be a star quarterback, but he is a good enough quarterback.