After Game Thoughts *Early week 10 edition

Couldn't watch the game - traveling for work. It seems like Trubisky always lights it up on the games I can't see. From the looks of it, it seems like Trubisky had another big, legitimate day. Connected on deep throws, and had the kind of completion percentage that you see from QB's winning at the highest levels. That's really encouraging.

This team has a huge opportunity in the coming weeks. Really pivotal point in the season.

Edit: very importantly, I appreciate everyone's thoughts here and in the game thread. It's the only way I took the game in, besides a few highlights. Super valuable.

 

So now we know that if tuna goes to the game, the Bears win, and if you don't watch, TRubs plays well.

Seems like you need to quit watchin...

 

Really feels like Tuna walked out the winner, on this one...

 

On his current pace....not to say he will stay on his current pace but just saying...Trubisky is on pace to put up around 4096 yards with 34 touchdowns against 12 INT's while completing 65% of his passes and carrying a 101 QB rating.

Last year both Carson Wentz and Jared Goff had "breakout" seasons....if you project their stats over 16 games...Wentz would be 4057 yards with a 41/9 TD to INT ratio while completing 60% of his passes and having a 102 QB rating. Goff would be 4058 yards with a 30/7 ratio and 62% of his passes completed and a 100 QB rating.

By current NFL standards Mitchell Trubisky is breaking out before our very eyes and doing so quicker than some other guys not named Mahomes.

He faces a big test Sunday night. He needs to prove he can play in prime time when the spotlight is on. But I post this just to tell my fellow Bears fans...relax a little and enjoy this a little because to date you've probably witnessed the best QB play by anyone to ever wear a Bears uniform. I know that's kinda sad and tells you a lot about our history at the position....but never mind that and enjoy it. Just a little.

 

Bears scored 264 points last season.

They've scored 269 with 7 games left this season.

They are currently on pace to break the franchise record set in 1985 of 456.

 

I'm enjoying it. I'm also impatient and want success and playoffs now. Long playoff droughts and one shitty QB after another will do that to a fan.

Trubs does need to play this well when the spotlight is on. And so does our 4th quarter defense.

I feel like the Vikings game will go one of two ways:
1) we win in a blowout, Trubs is on fire, Mack dominant and Cousins shitting the bed
2) we're winning the whole game but defense/special teams chokes in the 4th quarter and we lose game we should have won

I do not see us getting blown out.

 

Vikings will be the best defensive front that Trubisky faces all season.

Playcalling will be critical.

 

Sexy Rexy had a pretty good run to start 2006... my brief googling at work failed to find his exact stats for the first half of the season.

It’s way too small a sample size to be saying something like that, brother. I got excited in the 90’s after Will Furrer had a single good game...

I saw a lot I didn’t like in the first few games of the season. I’m seeing a lot I like now. I hope to see more of the latter.

That’s where I am now. It will take...years...for me to feel confident in Mitch. You beat a dog for all of it’s adult life, it takes years for it to NOT flinch when you pet it.

 

This last game really helped make the case for him. Should help a lot of Bears fans start to put the nervousness to rest and move more towards just enjoying it. Because having multiple performances like that is important, and he's starting to do that.

 

Through the first 9 games of the 2006 season Grossman was completing 57% of his passes and had 2095 yards with 17 touchdowns and 11 picks...including the 4 pick game in the Monday Night Miracle and the 3 pick game in the Bears first loss that season against the Dolphins.

Statistically speaking....Mitchell is torching Rex at this moment in time. More yards...more touchdowns...less interceptions...and way higher completion percentage. And that's not even touching on what Trubisky can do with his feet versus the cement shoes Grossman wore.

There is no comparison at this moment.

 

Except, at that time, you could’ve made the same statement about Rex you just made about Mitch. Those numbers put Rex on pace to have the best year a Bears QB had ever had.

Just slow your roll with the “best Bears QB play ever”, eh.

A good win against the Queens will go a bit more to putting my mind at ease about the Bears forseeable future at QB. And beat the fucking packers more than twice a decade ffs.

 

I don't know that at that time I felt that way about Rex....his wildness was always a problem for me. I never jumped aboard the Sexy Rexy train.

Statistically speaking....the 9 games Trubisky has played this year are the best 9 games any Bears QB has ever had to start a season. Ever. That's factual based on stats.

I didn't say he was the best Bears player ever.

You're allowed to think of him in any light you want. I still have questions about him as well. But I'm also really appreciating what he is doing.

I don't expect a spectacular statistical performance from Mitchell Sunday night. The Vikings defense is very good. But I expect to see the Bears offense find ways to score and I will be very upset if they don't.

 

I get 3rdGen's hesitation. It's natural with everything we've been through.

I think there are way more reasons to be excited about Trubisky though. In addition the numbers BWW pointed out, he just looks damn good. He may be deer-in-headlights sometimes (a criticism leveled at Eli Manning a lot early in his career) but he's not emotional weakling that Rex was. Plus Trubs totally passes the eye test when it comes to mechanics, something Red or Shitwad never did.

Edit: I was totally on the Rex bandwagon in early 2006. I thought at the time we finally had our franchise QB, even after the AZ game which I thought would turn out to be an aberration.

 

Mitchell is also getting something that no other Bears QB got....support.

He has a coach that is in tune with what a modern NFL offense looks like. He's being given legit NFL weapons instead of Mushin Mohammed or Devin Hester as his #1 receiver. Cutler was already damaged goods and on his 5th or 6th concussion by the time the Bears gave him legit weapons and someone to block for him.

 

And, in 2006, you could have made the exact same statement about Rex.

Edit - and yeah, with Blang, for that first half of 2006, I thought we had our guy. Which is exactly why I’m so hesitant to drop and gobble Mitch

 

You could....but you'd be wrong.

Rex's 2006 season was not, at that time, the best season a Bears QB had ever had.

I'd think Erik Kramer's 1995 season would have been and still is the best complete season a Bears QB has ever put in.

 

Well said you old prick.

This exactly where i am with Trubisky right now. Could he turn to shit and never reach the potential he's hinting at now? Absolutely, 100friggin%. But guys, there's gotta be some enjoyment attached to supporting this or any other team otherwise whats the point? Considering the QB position for this team has basically been a 70year widow's wail with the occasional pause for breath.....im gonna take my enjoyment re QB play when i can get it.

At the start of the season people were getting on Trubisky in gamethreads as soon as he missed a 1stQ throw. Whats the point? Im trying not to do that. And you know what, the odd moment aside its kinda working. TB was one of the most fun Bears games ive seen in a very very long time. And i LOVED Trubisky's performance against the Loins, particularly those throws he was making in the 1st half.

Maybe the mistake i was making all those years was being in such a hurry to define the next Bears QB, particularly Cutler. Im trying really hard not to do that with Trubisky. Not try to define him as the franchise QB for the next decade. Not constantly compare him to who else was taken in the same round. Just try to quit it a bit with the expectations and live in the moment. That said i totally get where others are coming from keeping their guard up.

Ive gotta say, the way im enjoying the Offensive side of the team up to this point does feel a lot like '95. There are some similarities. The Offense in '94 stunk only for it to click the next season. Of course it was prob around this point where that season went to shit, hopefully thats not what happens this time.

I too was on the Rex train in 2006. Didn't he win Offensive Player of the Month in September or October?

Maybe some of that disappointment was on us though tbh. We couldn't wait to anoint him. And we conveniently ignored some pretty bright flashing warning signs with those terrible games he had. Looking back on it, the swings week to week from Rex were just mind boggling. 8games with a 99+QBR. 5games under40. He had a 37, 24, 10, 1.3 & 0(!) QBR. That 1.3 i think was the game he threw for like 30yards against the Vikes and we won the game lololol.

Anyway, point is Trubisky isn't swinging anywhere near that with his lows, while at least matching the highs.

He's more resilient mentally, but there's no denying he has more support than any Bears QB ive seen. On the field, yes, but most of all from the Offensive coaching, both during the week and on game day. Not 100% sold on Nagy the HC, but gotta give credit, cos Trubisky is developing under Nagy right before our eyes.

 

Thanks sheep fucker.

Yeah I'm right there. Nagy cost his defense a turnover when he didn't throw a challenge flag on a pretty obvious turnover Sunday. He admitted after the game he was late on making a decision. We've seen other bad decisions on his part. Maybe that's a rookie HC thing. Maybe it's not.

But he's definitely bonded with Trubisky. And year over year Trubisky has greatly improved. Drastic improvement. That means something.

 

Hey I can't help it when you watch them the only winner is the opposing team.

I'll tell you I am enjoying this with all my heart at least while it lasts and I still believe 2018 feels much like in 1984 when the Bears were on the verge of something special.
It looks like learning this offense is slowing down for Mitch as you can see the difference in his game from those first weeks this season to right now. I would bet if that Burton play in the endzone happened this week he would make that throw. In my head though I'm just waiting for the wheels to fall off, but I see some really good progress and some nice tools to work with offensively, and in spite of what I feel will happen the needle is still pointing up. This team still has a lot to learn, and I don't mean X's and O's but they need to develop that culture of winning. I still need to see them come from behind and close it out with a win, because just that one game like that will go a long way of gaining their confidence. I need to see more swagger, (not the asshole arrogant type) but that quiet confidence. Guys like Miller and Cohen seem to have it, and hell even Mitch has some.
So yes I'm enjoying the hell out of this season so far, but I fully expect to endure some hardship and pain along the way, just how this team learns from it responds to it will tell you exactly how far they've come and how far they still need to go.

 

So much of being a Bears fan can sometimes be the overreactions. I tend not to dip into it too much myself, but I totally get it. Rex the greatest thing ever in early 2006, Cutler instantly being the best QB the Bears ever had the moment we made the blockbuster trade. The down in the dumps never recover we were at last year.

I am enjoying this ride, because the turnaround is shocking. Last year things looked about as grim as they get, and that this team was several years away still. Suddenly, we have a positive record for the first time in at least 3-4 years. We've lost some games in frustrating fashion and have completely blown a few teams out of the water (and be fair, the Packers game we WERE blowing them out of the water for a half). This team isn't close to a worse record, so much as they are close to a much *better* record. Lots of growing pains at the moment.

To speak on Trubs/Grossman, yes, Grossman looked lights out early on, but he also had that colossal stinker of a game vs. the Vikings early on. Trubs has slowly gotten better, though there are still some things we need to be worried about. But at the same time, we are setting a bar on him that unreasonably high at times. I'm with BWW, Tuna, Ev and others, how about we just enjoy where he's at now, and keep an eye on the things he can improve on, and whether he does.

Remember early in this year, I was starting to get worried, as many of you were that he was a captain checkdown, no deep plays, no multiple TD games. Then came a multiple TD game, but still checking down and inaccurate. Now he's stretching the field, having some downfield inaccuracies and some head scratches but above all improving. Remember in the Packers game where Trubs looked like a complete deer in headlights? That has slowly gone away. I can't wait for this Sunday to see how much progress he's made, this is a good defense under now the night lights and national exposure.

This Vikings game I think is a defining game. If they can close the deal on this one, I think we make the playoffs guaranteed. If they can't, I'm still not going overboard with it, because this team is trending in the right direction. For the first time since we let Lovie go.