After dropping four straight games, Coach Nagy and the Chicago Bears might let a day-to-day hip injury relegate QB Nick Foles to the bench in favor of Mitch Trubisky.
Speaking with Chicago’s 670 The Score on Wednesday about who would start Sunday night against the Packers, Nagy remarked, “I do believe in my heart of hearts that [Trubisky] has grown from this situation. I do believe that he will be a better player because of it.” The “situation” Nagy’s referencing is Trubisky’s benching in the middle of a week three match against the Atlanta Falcons, a move that led to Nick Foles coming back and winning the game.
“If he is going [to start],” Nagy continued, “what I would say is this, ‘I have all the confidence in the world in him.'”
It’s the wrong kind of tough choice. In contrast to their next opponent, the Packers, who historically find themselves stuck with two good quarterbacks, the Bears are stuck with two bad ones. With the 31st ranked offense in the NFL, they owe their 5-5 record to their defense. Without reinventing the offense and committing to a QB to design plays around, Chicago risks missing the playoffs after a 5-1 start.
Mitch Trubisky has been reportedly dealing with a nagging shoulder injury on the bench, which has given Nagy a break from making the decision as the season has progressed. Now that Trubisky is healthy and Foles is at least day-to-day, the time has come to figure out which quarterback can actually lead the Bears to the postseason.
Battle of the Lightweights
First, let’s compare the numbers. Foles comes in with 10 TDs to 8 INTs, a 65 percent completion rate, and a QB rating of a paltry 44.4. In Trubisky’s three starts, he netted 6 TDs to 3 INTs, a 54.6 percent completion rate, and a 59.0 QB rating. I can’t find anything positive here, and I don’t envy Chicago’s coaching staff poring through the stat sheet.
The good news is we have years of tape of both quarterbacks, and their strengths and weaknesses are fairly clear. Nick Foles is a pocket passer who, despite playing things safe when it comes to his throws, doesn’t have the reliability or consistency of a checkdown passer like Teddy Bridgewater.
Mitch Trubisky is more of a scrambling quarterback who’s able to break out of the pocket and make rushing attempts when he needs to. He’s lucky he’s one of the NFL’s more mobile quarterbacks, because he’s one of the NFL’s least accurate passers.
The Verdict
It may be that mobility, however, that edges Trubisky out over Foles at the moment. For all the magic that Foles has provided various teams in years past, we’ve gotten the impression that the 31 year old’s high ceiling has lowered considerably. Without some sort of complete overhaul of the playbook, the offense under Foles isn’t getting Chicago to the playoffs.
Trubisky isn’t good either. That said, his pension for running and his brief flashes of passing talent show that there must be something that he can excel at, whether a style of offense or a certain play design. He sucks in a more inspiring way than Foles. His college play got him drafted over Patrick Mahomes, which, while the incorrect choice, was definitely something that happened. At age 26, he still has a sliver of potential.
Even if Nagy doesn’t believe in Trubisky for the future, he might be the right start coming into Lambeau. At home, the Packers sack the quarterback on 9% of their opponent’s passing attempts. That’s a pass rush that Trubisky and his legs will be able to handle more easily than Foles.
The Chicago Bears haven’t always made the right quarterbacking decisions, but we’ll have to wait and see who stands behind center on Sunday night. This Thanksgiving, most of us can be grateful that Mitch Trubisky isn’t the most talented quarterback on our roster.
For more NFL news and analysis go to Belly Up Sports or follow @bellyupsports. For more articles and idle thoughts about sports, check out my Twitter @zacksphatstacks.
