There probably isn’t a more embattled QB in the NFL than Chicago’s Mitch Trubisky. He’s our new Blake Bortles, but he plays in a market where people actually care. So that’s been rough on him.
The No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL draft has struggled this season, while quarterbacks taken later in that draft — notably Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Houston’s Deshaun Watson — have thrived.
That’s not completely fair to Trubisky. Watson and Jackson were no doubt underestimated due to lingering — and completely racist — doubts from some scouts about black QBs, but drafting QBs is difficult and always has been.
Still, Trubisky has not helped himself in recent weeks with lackadaisical looking plays, like this one late in the second quarter of the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions.
Does Trubisky not understand how 1st downs work? pic.twitter.com/JANNVlYoq0
— MyBookieNFL (@MyBookie_NFL) November 28, 2019
That’s 3rd and 4 in the red zone with half a minute left in a close game. A first down there would have been significant, given how poorly the Bears had played in general to that point. Instead, head coach Matt Nagy, his soul decimated, opted to kick.
Troy Aikman, a QB who took too many shots to the head when he played, had a charitable interpretation of what had happened.
“I think he just lost track of where exactly he was.” Troy Aikman describing the Mitchell Trubisky experience
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) November 28, 2019
Trubisky might have the least amount of football awareness in the entire league. That should have been an easy first down on the scramble
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) November 28, 2019
Others, and Bears fans in particular, were no quite so … restrained.
Live look at Mitch Trubisky running the ball. pic.twitter.com/naxHjrTTXR
— L.J. Bering (@LJ_Bering) November 28, 2019
Mitch Trubisky scrambling for the first down#Bears #NFL100 #Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/aJTjzZVG7T
— Awesemo.com (@Awesemo_Com) November 28, 2019
As a Bears fan, I am DONE with Trubisky. All he had to do was lean forward and take a hit to get the 1st down and give his team a chance at a TD, and the worthless chicken runs away from the contact.
He does nothing to help the team. Nothing.
Time to move on.#DaBears
— Nunca Trump (@NeverTrumpTexan) November 28, 2019
I am going to tell my kids one day this is Mitch Trubisky #CHIvsDET pic.twitter.com/G6D1vBI6P1
— Key Influencer Dinner Club (@KeyDinnerClub) November 28, 2019
Every Bears fan that was left defending Trubisky after he decided not to go for that first down. pic.twitter.com/qnCuj2bJIv
— Fred Jackson (@Fred_Jackson__) November 28, 2019
It only got worse for Trubisky when the planned half-time show malfunctioned, causing televisions to go blank. Jokes flowed.
Is Mitchell Trubisky in charge of supplying the halftime show with power?
— Cole Wright (@ColeWrightNFL) November 28, 2019
Is Trubisky running tech
— Gravy Man (@eliyudin) November 28, 2019
It doesn’t look great that Trubisky’s bizarre run came on the heels of this, perhaps the worst attempt at running an option I’ve ever seen from a QB.
Gotta wait for the all22 to make any judgements pic.twitter.com/UCBs54cJz9
— Seth Galina (@SethGalina) November 18, 2019
Let’s not go to the easy “Mitch Trubisky isn’t tough enough” complaint here; just look at this hit he took earlier in the game.
Mitchell Trubisky gets leveled with a shoulder to the head
no flag
Leonard Floyd does this to David Blough:
roughing the passer after a failed 3rd-and-long pic.twitter.com/xqgoym4HFO
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 28, 2019
But as Trubisky gets outplayed completely by some former Purdue QB who went un-drafted earlier this year, it’s abundantly clear that he’s not in the right headspace right now to make use of his physical talents.
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