The Chicago Bears are hoping that quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s success against the Detroit Lions over the last month will translate into the final quarter of the season.
Trubisky had arguably the best performance of his career against the Lions on Thanksgiving, where he orchestrated two second-half scoring drives to lead the Bears back from a 10-point deficit.
There’s no denying the success that Trubisky has had against the Lions — especially this season. Trubisky has thrown six touchdowns against Detroit alone this season, in comparison to seven against every other team. He also has posted a 124.4 passer rating against Detroit compared to 72.15 against the rest of the NFL.
But the question becomes: Can Trubisky carry over that success against more difficult opponents, including the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings?
“Regardless of who our opponent is — and sometimes players play better vs. some opponents — I said it [Thursday] night — it’s been three games, really four games now that Mitch has really stacked some strong games together with decision-making,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said, via the Sun-Times. “And again, others have stepped up. And we got a nice balance going. And can it improve? Yes, absolutely. But we like what we did [Thursday].”
Nagy believes that Trubisky’s success over the past four games can certainly carry over into the final quarter of the season.
“The biggest thing is just the confidence that you felt from him making conviction throws,” Nagy said. “And then just the one interception that occurred, you never felt like something bad was going to happen on the next play. You didn’t feel that on the sideline.
“He came back and just started firing away. Guys were making plays and the run game was going.”
Nagy has been impressed with Trubisky’s decision-making in these last four games, particularly his ability to go through his progressions against the Lions last Thursday.
“That’s the timing of this offense,” Nagy said. “When you throw the ball, a three-hitch throw and they popped a zone on us and he threw it to the right guy in zone, it’s hard to stop. …
“The decisions that he made were on time. And I think this offense is built on timing and when you make the right decision on time, usually good things happen.”
Whether Trubisky can carry over that success to these final four games remains to be seen. But there’s no denying that Trubisky has looked like a different, better, quarterback over the past month.
[lawrence-related id=432018,432008,431956,431971,431976]