Dhruv Koul answers your questions in this edition of the Chicago Bears Mailbag. You can follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
The Bears put their season back on the right track last Sunday by pulling away against the New York Jets at Soldier Field, winning by a score of 24-10. And this Sunday, Chicago travels to Buffalo to take on the Bills at New Era Field. The Bears are the better team in every way and, even on the road, should win that game handily. If the Bears aren’t 5-3 by the time Monday rolls around, something has gone seriously wrong.
As we approach Bears vs. Bills, let’s reach into this week’s Bears Mailbag. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions! We always appreciate the participation.
Q: The offseason was all about getting help for QB Mitch Trubisky. It has seemed uneven so far; so how has he improved this year? — Jasmine B.
In many ways, yes it was. From hiring an offensive genius in Matt Nagy, to hiring more great coaches in Mark Helfrich and Harry Hiestand, to signing and drafting a bunch of weapons, Mitch Trubisky’s environment and supporting cast is FAR different, and better, than it was last year under John Fox.
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But this isn’t Madden, and getting new players into a new offense in their first year is always an adjustment. And it showed in Trubisky’s first few games, where he would perform very well in the scripted portions of the offense, but would largely flounder otherwise. It was clear that he was thinking too much and reacting less (and slowly) to what was going on around him. That wasn’t surprising given the new offense, but it left many to question whether Trubisky was ever going to ‘get it’.
I wrote about Trubisky and what his flaws were in an old Mailbag that you can read here. It’s the last question in that Mailbag. In it, I outlined many of the things that he needed to improve, which he struggled with at the beginning of the year, namely: Pocket presence / awareness, quicker decision making, and mechanics / footwork that led to his accuracy issues.
Those were the things Trubisky struggled with in the early parts of the season. And while he continues to struggle with consistent footwork that hurts his accuracy, he has gotten better at going through his progressions and making better decisions as the year has gone on. And even if he’s missed throws, he has properly identified the open man and has made the right decision more often than not. That’s growth.
He’s also shown the ability to make the right checks at the line of scrimmage. There have been multiple instances this season where Trubisky identified the defense (coverage, blitz, etc), adjusted the play call at the line to put the Bears in an advantageous spot on offense, and then executed the play to gain positive yards. That’s growth.
Trubisky has also shown a better penchant to step up in the pocket and not escape upon the first sign of pressure as the year has gone on. When he pulls it down and runs, he does so after going through most of his progressions. That’s growth.
Overall, there has been plenty of improvement on things independent of scheme that Trubisky needed to make from last year, but he still has a long ways to go. But as long as he keeps improving, the Bears will be in good shape.
Where is the pass rush!scottish bears fan!#Beardown
— kenneth charles will (@BellShillBawBag) October 31, 2018
Ever since Khalil Mack got hurt, it’s been non-existent without manufacturing pressure with blitzes. I’ve touched on this in the past, but the blueprint to beat the Bears’ pass rush at the moment exists, if the opposing offense can execute properly. The Miami Dolphins had success protecting Brock Osweiler by getting the ball out quickly, and the Bears couldn’t tackle a statue on their way to a brutal loss. Tom Brady is notorious for dissecting defenses with the quick passing game, and the Bears failed to get much pressure on him as well.
The Bears didn’t sack Jets’ QB Sam Darnold often enough last Sunday, but they did disrupt their rookie signal caller with some blitzes to keep him from getting into a rhythm. Until Mack returns, it seems that the Bears will need to continue manufacturing pressure to disrupt opposing quarterbacks. Or someone else will need to step up in his stead, such as Leonard Floyd or Aaron Lynch. Otherwise, the QBs that the Bears play later this year: Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins, will enjoy big days on offense.
How will the offense change with long out up to 8weeks?
— Beardown85 (@hawkeyes4life1) October 31, 2018
Good question. The offensive line has largely been excellent in pass protection for Trubisky, allowing him ample time to make throws so far this year. The running game has been lackluster overall, but Kyle Long is one of the best linemen in the NFL. The Bears will sorely miss him.
That being said, rookie guard James Daniels will likely be the LG going forward, and the person he was rotating with, Eric Kush, will likely slide over to the right side in place of Long. It remains to be seen how much the pass protection will suffer with Long’s loss, so you can expect that Matt Nagy will call plays to adjust for that in order to ensure Trubisky doesn’t succumb to weaker pass protection. Perhaps more bootlegs/rollouts to move the pocket and offer the reshuffled offensive line an easier way to settle in.
The real issue thus far, however, has been running the ball. The scheme is not very conducive to the power running game, which is what Jordan Howard excels at. There also hasn’t been a lot of stretch zone running so far this year, which is another thing that Howard excels at. I’m curious to see whether Nagy will try to enable various flavors of the running game in order to get it going more consistently. That will open up the play-action game more for Trubisky and will make his life much easier.
A major thing to note: The offensive game planning has changed each week according to the opponent, something I’ve been thrilled to see. So there is no perfect answer to your question. I’m very interested to see how they respond to their first test in Buffalo this Sunday. New Era Field is not an easy place to play, and though the Bills have an atrocious offense, they have a very solid defense. We’ll see how Nagy and Trubisky attack a tough defense, on the road, without their leader and best offensive linemen suiting up.
Q: Which Bears’ games will get flexed into prime time? — Chris A.
The NFL has the authority to flex games in and out of time slots on Sundays, including their prime time schedule. We’ve already seen this happen a couple times, including when the Chiefs-Bengals game was flexed into the prime time slot on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and the Rams-49ers game was moved out.
Generally, the best matchups (both record-wise and market-wise) are the ideal choice to be featured in prime time because of the ratings draws. Here are the Bears’ remaining games:
Bears at Bills
Lions at Bears
Vikings at Bears
Bears at Lions (Thanksgiving Day)
Bears at Giants
Rams at Bears
Packers at Bears
Bears at 49ers
Bears at Vikings
It’s too late for Bears-Bills to be flexed, and it was never going to happen anyway. And the Bears-Lions game on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field is locked into the morning time slot. It will be nationally televised, but it is not considered prime time.
Of these matchups, the likely candidates are Vikings-Bears, Rams-Bears, Packers-Bears, and Bears-Vikings. Each team has a limit as to how many prime time games they can play, which is likely why the Patriots-Bears game was not flexed.
Of course, there are other matchups during these weeks that may be equally deserving of being flexed, or the de facto matchup may be good enough for the NFL to keep the status quo. But the games I just mentioned are juicy matchups that could very well receive consideration.
The Bears are a major ratings draw (whether they’re good or not), and are in a major market. The fact that they’re in contention only helps things; the NFL would love to have the opportunity to have this team in prime time. The best way to make that decision even tougher for the NFL? Keep winning.
