The struggles of Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky are on more people than just him. While his continuously underwhelming play is due to the failures of his teammates, as well as himself, the repercussions will be felt far above and beyond just the individual signal caller.
The Monsters of the Midway rebuild was designed around having patience while Trubisky developed. The fruits of the labor came last season with a division title and a 12-4 record, but that’s all by the wayside now, given the utterly disastrous 4-6 season that has unfolded in Chicago.
Chicago hosts the New York Giants on Sunday in a match-up of two big market traditional powers that are irrelevant this season. In looking at the types that make free NFL predictions, they honestly do not seem to care about the uncertainty at Chicago’s QB position right now.
Trubisky is injured, but to what severity is being kept very covert. Whether it’s the former UNC Tar Heel or the backup Chase Daniel who gets the starting nod, the oddsmakers have determined it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Both Daniel and Trubisky looked very bad against the Rams, which is doubly disappointing as it came in a game that was actually there for the taking.
Trubisky just isn’t developing, and it doesn’t look like he ever will. And with Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson having both been available at the time he was drafted in 2017, this blunder falls on the front office, specifically General Manager Ryan Pace.
He’s paid the big bucks to get these tough decisions right, and he swung and missed on this one. That’s the world of today’s NFL. Chicago is going absolutely nowhere this season, and it makes one generally wonder about the future. Was last season a fluke just like 2001?
Probably.
So what’s the plan moving forward?
Well, the defense hasnโt been nearly as good as it was last year, and you can see just how badly they miss Vic Fangio. Khalil Mack has long been talked about as one of the best defenders in the National Football League, but we’re jsut not seeing it this year. In terms of a rebuilding plan, you would have to think that he’s one of the few untouchable pieces- even if he hasn’t looked like it lately.
Dominant defensive lineman Akiem Hicks is pivotal as well, as you can see just how much the run defense suffers when he’s not out there.
And then you have real question marks about the play-calling ability, schematics and game-planning abilities of head coach Matt Nagy. Also, as you might have heard, placekicker is a train wreck of a dumpster fire for the second season in a row despite the personnel switch.
However, these are all questions for another day.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author ofย โNo,ย ย I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ regularly appears onย WGN CLTVย and co-hosts theย โLetโs Get Weird, Sportsโ podcastย onย SB Nation.ย
You can follow Banks, a former writer forย NBC Chicago.comย andย Chicago Tribune.comย onย Twitter hereย and hisย cat on Instagram at this link.
