CHICAGO, IL – With their season opener against the NFC North rival Detroit Lions set to start on Sunday, the Chicago Bears have decided to move forward with fourth-year starter, Mitchell Trubisky. Did the Bears make a mistake in not ditching Mitch over Super Bowl MVP backup Nick Foles?
Trubisky, a 2018 Pro Bowl selection, and the first Bears quarterback since Jim McMahon to play in it since Jim McMahon in 1985, is 23-18 as a starter, including a 19-10 mark since the start of 2018, per the Bears official website, narrowly edged out the aforementioned Foles in a much-publicized QB competition.
The Bears, as it is well-documented, traded up to No.2 overall to select the former Mentor, OH native out of North Carolina, over the likes of eventual Super Bowl champion & MVP as well as NFL MVP in Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, which in hindsight is looking more and more like the NFL’s version of Seward’s Folly.
Stats wise, Trubisky has put up some respectable numbers in passing for 8,554 yards passing, 48 touchdowns, 29 interceptions and a passer rating of 85.8, but looking back in hindsight and seeing the success of Mahomes and Watson has got to give every Bears fan a case of Aaron Rodgers-induced PTSD.
Will Trubisky start all 16 games in 2020?
No
Yes
While I’m not comparing Trubisky to the purchase of land that would become the great 49th State of Alaska, the return investment that the bears got from him, is looking like one of the NFL’s all-time front office blunders. Where does this all leave Foles? Is just the NFL’s version of State Farm now?
Is he just a glorified standard clipboard holder who caught lightning in a bottle in leading the Eagles to arguably the biggest upset in modern Super Bowl history since Eli and the Giants beat New England the first time?
While it could be seen as unfair to criticize current Bears GM Ryan Pace for being aggressive in landing a franchise quarterback for a organization that is more synonymous from some of the game’s greatest and toughest linebackers, defensive ends ever in Mike Singletary, Dick Butkus, Doug Buffone , Brian Urlacher and most recently Khalil Mack, other than the forementioned McMahon, perhaps the most famous QB in recent history–if ever–to lace it up under center on Halas Way was Jay Cutler.
Make no mistake, there is heat on both Pace and Trubisky to produce big in The Windy City, or changes could be coming both in the front office and on the field, since Trubisky has basically flopped in Chicago due to his high draft status and the uber-success of Mahomes and Watson.
It ain’t fair, and it may sound alarmist, as a man once said, fair is a place where they judge pigs, as it does not exist. It’s time for Trubisky to live up to the hype or be the latest in a long line of misses under center in the Second City.