SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A little more than a month ago, the former failed general manager of the Cleveland Browns, Michael Lombardi, went on record to say that not only was he not a believer in Chicago Bears’ QB Mitch Trubisky, but that he wouldn’t buy Trubisky “on the discount rack at Filene’s Basement”.
That weekend, Trubisky went out and thoroughly dominated a hapless Detroit Lions team at Soldier Field, carrying Chicago to their third straight win. And after that game, I introduced my QB grading system while posting my first public grade for Trubisky, confirming everything we saw live during the game. To refresh your memory of the grading criteria and grading thresholds, you can review that here.
I refrained from posting my public grades for a few weeks afterwards given Trubisky got hurt in the Minnesota game. But yesterday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium was an interesting challenge. I wanted to see him play well on the road given he had played poorly and the team had been inconsistent away from Soldier Field. And with the New Orleans Saints having clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs yesterday as well, the Bears will need Trubisky to grow up quickly on the road if they’re to make a deep playoff run.
Apart from a win, I want to see two things:
1. Bears escaping healthy
2. Trubisky playing well on the roadSan Francisco won't be like New Orleans in January, but any improvement away from Soldier Field will help his comfort level.
Prediction: Bears 23, 49ers 13. https://t.co/Se7Th571d2
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 21, 2018
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Despite a weird, ugly game for both teams on both sides of the ball, Trubisky in particular had a good game overall on the road against a solid, pesky defense. The breakdown and grades are below, and remember to re-familiarize yourself with the grading criteria and grade ranges/thresholds in the link I shared above.
FIRST DRIVE
Expected throw to Josh Bellamy (+6 yards).
Expected throw to Trey Burton (+7 yards).
Very Good throw to Allen Robinson (incomplete deep down the left sideline).
Drive Summary: +2 points
SECOND DRIVE
Solid throw to Allen Robinson (+43 yards requiring a nice diving catch).
Very good throw to Adam Shaheen (Incomplete, should’ve been DPI).
Expected throw to Jordan Howard (+1 yard).
Drive Summary: +5 points
THIRD DRIVE
Expected throw to Taylor Gabriel (+4 yards, penalty on CHI).
Trubisky sacked.
Expected throw to Taylor Gabriel (+16 yards).
Drive Summary: -0.5 points
FOURTH DRIVE
Poor decision/throw to Tarik Cohen (Fumble, turnover).
Drive Summary: -1 points
FIFTH DRIVE
Trubisky sacked.
Very good throw to Taquan Mizzell (+26 yards).
Expected throw to Jordan Howard (+16 yards).
Solid throw to Ben Braunecker (+18 yards).
Turnover-worthy throw to Anthony Miller (INT, penalty on SF, negated).
Poor throw to Jordan Howard (Incomplete).
Solid throw to Anthony Miller (+4 yards, touchdown).
Drive Summary: -0.5 points
SIXTH DRIVE
Expected throw to Allen Robinson (+9 yards).
Expected throw to Trey Burton (+6 yards).
Expected throw to Tarik Cohen (+7 yards).
Expected throw to Taylor Gabriel (+6 yards).
Expected throw to Trey Burton (+5 yards).
Expected throw to Allen Robinson (+10 yards).
Drive Summary: 0 points
SEVENTH DRIVE
Expected throw to Anthony Miller (+8 yards).
Expected throw to Trey Burton (+8 yards).
Expected throw to Allen Robinson (+7 yards).
Trubisky sacked.
Solid throw to Allen Robinson (Incomplete, OPI called).
Drive Summary: +0.5 points
EIGHTH DRIVE
Expected throw to Anthony Miller (+12 yards).
Expected throw to Trey Burton (+4 yards).
Expected throw to Taquan Mizzell (+1 yard).
Trubisky run for +7 yards (Negated by offsetting penalties).
Expected throw to Adam Shaheen (+4 yards).
Trubisky run for +2 yards.
Trubisky run for +3 yards.
Very Good throw to Allen Robinson (+6 yards).
Expected throw to Allen Robinson (+10 yards, Robinson fumble, Turnover).
Drive Summary: +3 points
END OF GAME TOTAL: +8.5 POINTS
GAME GRADE: B+
So yeah, even when one takes into account the poor decisions and negated plays (which seems to be what Trubisky got a lot of heat for on Twitter) it was still a damn good game for him.
That’s back-to-back strong games for the Bears’ young quarterback. Let’s hope he can deliver one more in Minnesota as a final tune-up for the playoffs.
