Matt Barkley Leaving Chicago Bears With More Questions than Answers
By Gau Bodepudi
After Matt Barkley’s five-interception performance in the Chicago Bears’ 41-21 blowout loss to the Washington Redskins, there are more questions than answers coming into the offseason.
The final two starts were an opportunity for Matt Barkley to prove himself. After a 1-3 start, Barkley showed enough potential to warrant further consideration as a future Chicago Bears quarterback, whether as a starter or a backup. In his four prior starts, he put the Bears in a position to win in each of those games. He showed the ability to evade tacklers in the pocket, go through his route progressions, and hit receivers in stride.
The odds were in his favor this past week against the Redskins. He was facing one of the worst defenses in the league. The Redskins were ranked 26th in passing defense coming into the game, and 29th in total defense.
But all that potential and hope quickly went down the drain after his 5-interception performance against the Redskins.
While some of his prior interceptions could be written off as growing pains and miscommunication, these 5 fall squarely on Barkley’s shoulders. These interceptions were a combination of bad decisions, bad throws, and poor mechanics.
Interception Breakdown
His first interception was thrown into triple coverage. Barkley wasn’t under any pressure. He simply tried to force a deep ball to WR Josh Bellamy. The throw was on target, but this was a bad decision.
His next interception (0:10 second marker in the clip above) was a throw he lobbed down the field while getting sacked. Terrible decision.
His third interception (0:34 marker) was a short-left pass to WR Cameron Meredith. The defender was on Meredith’s left side, so if Barkley threw the pass to Meredith’s right shoulder, it could have been completed. Barkley, however, threw the ball to Meredith’s left shoulder, where it was tipped and caught for an interception. Barkley’s pass was just off target.
The fourth interception (0:42 marker) was wildly overthrown to WR Alshon Jeffrey, right into the hands of the Redskins’ secondary. Horrible throw.
The final interception (1:03 marker) was a deep pass to Jeffrey in the end zone. Barkley threw the off of his back foot and underthrew the ball. Poor mechanics led to a bad throw.
Prior to starting, in his five appearances as a backup for both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Bears, Barkley threw 6 interceptions on 65 passing attempts.
If anything, the more Barkley plays the more he seems to be returning to form as a turnover prone quarterback.
All this being said, it could very well be Barkley’s growing pains. With more reps, he may still have the potential to become a viable NFL quarterback.
Perhaps.
Unfortunately, with a performance like this the Bears can’t rely on Barkley as a hope for the future. The Bears will need to look elsewhere to find their quarterback of the future.