Week 3 was another rough one for Mitchell Trubisky. After week 1, I wasn’t worried at all. But now after 3 games of tape and seeing the same inconsistencies over and over again, I am starting to get a tad bit worried. Now look, expected him to have growing pains learning how to read defenses and learning a new offense, that stuff doesn’t bother me much yet at this point. But the one variable I never took into account was his current accuracy issues. Trubisky is/was a deadly accurate passer, so this issue has completely blindsided me. Hopefully it is just a scheme fit issue and nothing else. Let’s go to the tape:
The Arizona Cardinals gave Trubisky absolutely no respect in this game. They blitzed Trubisky on his first 3 pass attempts, 5 out of his first 6 pass attempts, and 8 of his first 11 pass attempts. There were only a handful of times in the entire first half where they did not send extra pressure at him. Basically, they defended him as if he were some developmental rookie in his first ever start.
Blitzing an extra man is risky, so it’s predominantly done in desperation, as a change of pace, or in a critical situation. Rarely do you see a team blitz for most of an entire game. The qb will eventually figure it out and torch the defense. But not only were the Cardinals blitzing on the regular, they were sending 6 defenders on several occasions. This is a recipe for disaster, and it shows how little worry they had that Trubisky could burn them. In most passing situations, Arizona lined up 6 defensers at the LOS, one deep safety and man to man across the board, daring Trubisky to beat them...
The trouble began on the 3rd pass play of the game. Arizona shows 7 defenders at the LOS. At the snap of the ball, 5 defenders go after Trubisky including both safeties off of both edges. The running back is open for a big gain, but Trubisky never sees him. Trubisky sees the safety blitz to his right, so he keeps his eyes there waiting for Kevin White to flash open. He has no idea the other safety is coming at him from the left, therefor he never looks in that direction.
But the real issue for me is when Trubisky has a clean pocket and still misses throws such as this one behind Miller...
Beginning with the 3rd series, Nagy began trying to reel Trubisky back, including 8 man protections on 3rd down.
Here we have a 5 man blitz that’s picked up beautifully by the offensive line. This is where you have to burn a defense for blitzing one too many times. Taylor Gabriel is running full speed at a flat footed safety and Trubisky has a pocket you can drive a bus through.
Watch closely right before the release of the ball. It looks as though Trubisky flinches even though he had no imminent pressure. Dude may be seeing ghosts in the pocket.
I noticed something similar in week 2...
If you’re gonna throw this, you gotta do it before the break. Trubisky seems a touch late at times...
Im not gonna crucify Trubisky for this because he had pressure to deal with, but he’s definitely capable of making this play...
You just gotta keep this ball in the field of play...
This could have been a huge play right before the half. The safety comes in on a blitz leaving the RB with completely open space. Unfortunately, Trubisky could not get the ball past the defensive lineman.
Trubisky throws this ball aboot 23 seconds too late...
Matt Nagy dials up the absolute perfect play here against a 6 man blitz. It’s basically a 3 on 2 on the left side of the field. You end up with Anthony Miller open in space with two blockers in front of him. The pressure doesnt get to Trubisky in time, as he delivers the ball in a still clear pocket. Awful throw...
On this play, Trubisky manipulates the deep safety beautifully, getting him to bite on the in breaking route. This leaves Allen Robinson one on one, which is always a huge win for the Bears. At 6’3” with a 40 inch vertical, Robinson is one of the premier jump ball WR’s in the NFL. With a clean pocket to step into, Trubisky has to give Robinson a chance with this ball. Big missed opportunity...
Reason for optimism
If you are looking for a reason for optimism, look no further than this pass to Burton. Trubisky falls down backpedaling, gets swarmed by pressure to the right of him and straight in his face, is not able to step up into the throw fully, has to short arm it, yet delivers a strike 20+ yards downfield. This...is...special...
All in all, there is reason to be a bit concerned at the moment. Hopefully this bout of inaccuracy is just a scheme fit issue and not some unfixable psychological issue.
