NEWSLETTER
Snap shots from Mitch Trubisky’s Week 10 performance against the Lions suggest the Bears quarterback did some fine things on Sunday.
He completed 69.5 percent of his passes against a defense just asking to be thrown against. And while the completion percentage is nice on its own, it’s especially so since it came with a season-best 7.5 yards per attempt and 10.1 adjusted yards gained per attempt.
Ultimately, Trubisky’s 131.0 passer rating was a season-high and his third best single-game showing in his three years as a pro (and the three touchdown passes he threw marked the fifth time he had pulled off that feat, but just the third time he has done it without throwing an interception).
On Sunday, Trubisky re-established what his floor can be in this offense. He showed an aptitude to make easy plays that were in front of him, an ability to connect with play-makers, and a splash of necessary talent it takes to make big-time throws. I mean, the throws to Ben Braunecker and Taylor Gabriel were freaking sweet.
Let’s re-live them while we have a chance:
.@Mtrubisky10 throws 3 TDs en route to a @ChicagoBears victory! #DETvsCHI pic.twitter.com/I8ZD5w6N92
— NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2019
And yet, I can’t escape the feeling that Trubisky’s best game of the season wasn’t all that good.
Trubisky missed a few throws he would like to have back, but every quarterback has a few of those every game. It’s just that on one of them, CBS panned to a sideline shot to show Trubisky looking a bit befuddled about what he was seeing on the tablet. The more concerning thing for me might have been the five sacks he took on Sunday. That’s far too many to take against a Detroit defensive front that doesn’t pressure the quarterback with any regularity. And while not all of the blame can be laid at Trubisky’s feet, a better quarterbacking performance would have seen him take fewer sacks because the ball would have been out or he would have avoided the rush with better pocket presence.
It was the quintessential Trubisky performance, which is simultaneously underwhelming and hopeful for a better future.
Try as I might, I simply cannot ignore the splash plays he made with his arm. Even if it was against a beleaguered Lions defense. He still made the throw when it mattered. It’s just that it is so hard to jump on the bandwagon when he still misses simpler throws. It’s maddening, but it is exactly why conversations regarding Chase Daniel as a replacement need to be shut down. The Bears need to find out exactly what they have in Trubisky before they enter the offseason. Leave no doubt (one way or the other) and then enter the offseason with a genuine plan of attack for how to address the most important position in the game. If Trubisky has more games where he is completing 70 percent of his passes and throwing three touchdowns without turning the ball over, we will have different discussions this winter. But he will need to show that capacity to do it against a team that doesn’t have a busted secondary like the Lions.
