5 throws Mitch Trubisky needed to make Week 16
A lot of things fell apart for the Chicago Bears in 2019, but Mitch Trubisky is still the biggest question
As the Chicago Bears head into the offseason there are going to be plenty of questions about what went wrong in 2019. Did the offensive line break down, was the play calling bad, did the receivers drop too many passes? These things can all be true to a degree this season.
However, too often over the past month, these accusations have absolved what has arguably been the biggest question mark all season; Mitch Trubisky.
After a loss to the Green Bay Packers, the overall fan reaction was that Trubisky played well and was let down by these other factors. However, reviewing the game, there were far too many moments where an open receiver and a clean pocket led to an incompletion.
These five plays, with a bonus sixth, have to make Bears fans cautious about the late-season success that Trubisky is having. He is still prone to all of the same downs.
Here is the bonus play as it sets up our first miss by Trubisky. It is third down and four with just over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter. The Bears are down 14-3. They are not quite in field goal range, but are too close to scoring to punt.
Trubisky has to know this. However, as he rolls out, he sees nobody open. Rather than throw the ball away, he hops out of bounds for a two-yard loss. The lack of understanding of game situation is infuriating.
So, rather than a fourth down with four yards to go, the Bears are in 4th-and-6. The Bears are targetting Allen Robinson right at the sticks on this play. However, as Robinson turns, the ball is inaccurate off of his shoulder, and falls incomplete.
From the end zone view we can see Trubisky is working from a clean pocket. However as he gets to the end of his drop, he should be releasing to Robinson, who can catch the ball with space and fall forward to move the chains. However, Trubisky pauses and clutches before throwing and it affects his innacuracy.
These types of plays were some of the inconsistencies in his college and rookie tape. However, the lack of understanding on third down and lack of certainty on fourth down in these big moments of year three is concerning.