Mitch Trubisky was sacked once in the Chicago Bears Week Nine win over the Buffalo Bills. Where should the responsibility lie?
The Chicago Bears are in the top ten in sacks allowed. Even Tom Brady was sacked twice by the Buffalo Bills defensive front. So, to see Mitch Trubisky sacked just once is a nice game on the road. Still, like every week we are going to dissect each sack and assign some blame to keep track.
Who is to blame for the only Trubisky sack on Sunday? The play is linked here.
This one is pretty clear. It has to go to Charles Leno. Jerry Hughes got him with a combination of strong hand usage and bend. Hughes does have 4.5 sacks this season to lead the Bills. He has been a monster. Still, this is a clean loss and goes on the books for Leno.
The question can become, could Trubisky had done more? First off, he obviously needs to hold onto the ball, as he was stripped on this play. Fortunately for him, it was recovered.
However, here is the overview of the play. You can see that based on his progression, the routes to his right are moving left. Meanwhile, the pressure left is pushing him right. He is put in a spot where he can only throw across his body, or move with his legs.
He has been successful with his legs, but Hughes beat his man clean and is a quarterback chaser with his speed. Trubisky was best off throwing this pass away. This is something that he will learn when he realizes that some defensive linemen are as fast as him.