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A ‘comfortable’ Mitch Trubisky has had a voice in some of the changes to the Chicago Bears offense. Why didn’t they happen sooner? ‘I was asking,’ the QB says.
The late-season emergence of Mitch Trubisky has given the Chicago Bears optimism. Whether it’s actual hope or a short-lived flash preceding a return to the deluge of questions about what̵…
www.chicagotribune.com
Brad Biggs
7-9 minutes
The late-season emergence of Mitch Trubisky has given the Chicago Bears optimism. Whether it’s actual hope or a short-lived flash preceding a return to the deluge of questions about what’s wrong with the offense — or rather what’s right with it — remains to be seen.
The Bears travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings on Sunday for what amounts to an elimination game for the NFC North foes, tied at 6-7 in the standings. Neither has a great shot at the playoffs, but the winner will have a legitimate shot at the No. 7 seed.
Trubisky is coming off his finest game of the season, completing 24 of 33 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-7 drubbing of the Houston Texans. The Bears have scored touchdowns on seven of eight red-zone opportunities in the last two weeks, and Trubisky’s play, combined with a suddenly productive running game, have at least temporarily revived a season that appeared shot after a six-game losing streak.
The Bears have tailored what Trubisky does well — using his athletic ability to get outside the pocket and getting the ball out of his hands quickly — and they’ve matched some of the quarterback’s movements with their ground game to build momentum on offense. Allen Robinson’s targets are up over when Nick Foles was starting, and all of a sudden running back David Montgomery looks like a pretty good fit in the scheme.
“I do feel comfortable,” Trubisky said Wednesday evening after practice was pushed back at Halas Hall because of a courier error involving the team’s COVID-19 tests from Tuesday. “After getting benched and being able to go back in, this is just some of the things I’ve been asking for. I feel like they are strengths of mine and also strengths of this offense.
“I just thought it was a good idea to get Cole (Kmet) more involved, to get David more involved, to get A-Rob more involved. You’ve just got to get the ball to your playmakers out in space and stretch the field horizontally and vertically but also keeping the defense off balance, and I think the change in tempo really helps this offense. Moving the pocket really helps me and helps our offensive line. And also helps create run lanes. So these are things I’m very comfortable with, things I’ve been asking for, and I think everyone’s buying into it and we’re starting to build an identity and we just need to keep getting better and better.”
A lot of this was part of the system in the first three weeks of the season when things were not necessarily clicking. Sorting through the blame would require a lengthy process, and all the Bears can concern themselves is trying to get back to .500 and stay in the playoff race.
It’s only natural to wonder, at least a little, where things might be if changes had happened sooner, right?
“I guess you never know,” Trubisky said. “I was asking. ... But you can’t change the past, so we are where we are now and the offense is progressing over the last few weeks, and all we can do is try to stay on this path that we are now and keep getting better. Can’t change the past. I can’t put myself back in the game a couple weeks ago.”
For his part in it, coach Matt Nagy said Trubisky’s movement skills have been key.
“When you have somebody like Mitchell that can extend plays with his legs, just with the background that I came from in Kansas City and just some of the things we did, there wasn’t as much of that,” Nagy said. “It takes some time. It doesn’t just happen overnight. But I do feel like we are creating a little bit of an identity, and that’s a part of it as well with him being able to get outside the pocket. Some of the arm-angle throws that he made the other day were special. The more you do it, the more comfortable you feel.”
The Bears scored 66 points combined over the last two weeks, and while it has to be noted they played the Lions and Texans, ranked 29th and 25th, respectively, in scoring, that usually takes them three or 3½ games to amass.
The Bears are 7-for-8 in the red zone the last two weeks, finally producing and avoiding some of the short field-goal attempts they had to settle for earlier this season and last year. Trubisky is 4-2 as a starter against the Vikings, although one was the 2019 meeting when he was injured early and Chase Daniel replaced him. Trubisky has thrown only two touchdowns with three interceptions and two lost fumbles against the Vikings while averaging only 5.38 yards per attempt.
This isn’t the same high-level defense Mike Zimmer has presided over in recent years. When the Vikings came to Soldier Field for the Monday night Week 10 meeting in November, they hatched a plan to try to confuse Foles and force him to get rid of the ball quickly. Foles had been skittish in previous games, and even minus their best pass rushers, the Vikings were able to scheme up pressure or simulate it in a 19-13 victory.
On third-and-5 from the Vikings 31-yard line with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining, the Vikings bluffed pressure, Foles threw a screen to Robinson, who was dropped for a 4-yard loss. On the crucial fourth down that followed, with the Bears trailing 19-13, the Vikings rushed five and the Bears had six men to pick it up with running back Ryan Nall staying in to protect. Foles felt more pressure than there was and threw off one foot deep for a wide open Anthony Miller and just overshot him. Game over.
It will be interesting to see what the Vikings have in store for Trubisky, who is a threat to flee the pocket under pressure and gain yardage, unlike Foles. Zimmer surely will look to disguise coverages with pressure and late movement from his safeties. As much as the matchup is players versus players, it’s coaches vs. versus coaches, with Zimmer scheming to thwart Matt Nagy and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.
The Bears didn’t run the ball a lick in the initial meeting, gaining only 41 yards on 17 carries as Montgomery was held out with a concussion. The running game has come to life the last three weeks and is coming off a season-high 169 yards against the Texans.
Trubisky was particularly good getting the ball out quickly against the Texans. According to the NFL’s NextGen stats, he has the second-lowest intended air yards (4.2) on his throws, but 17 of his 24 completions resulted in first downs and 190 of his 267 passing yards came on yards after the catch. Get the ball out and let the receiver do the work.
“Trubisky’s been playing very well,” Zimmer said. “They’ve been better in the red zone. All those areas. Just being able to get the ball out quickly and accurately. … He’s playing well.”
Maybe the Bears finally have found the right mix of what works well for Trubisky and the parts around him. Maybe they should have arrived at that point a long time ago. What matters most right now is finding a way to keep it going.
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