CHICAGO -- After six rough days of trying to come to terms with the reality of Cody Parkey's double-doink, I finally got to a point where I could stomach watching tape of the Eagles-Bears Wild Card game from last Sunday at Soldier Field.
In the last six days, much analysis has already been written on what all went wrong for the Bears (and for the Eagles). I highly suggest listening to the "Hoge and Jahns Podcast" by Bears' beat writers Adam Hoge and Adam Jahns and the tape breakdown they did of that game -- it was exceptional.
What I wanted to focus on after six days was how Mitch Trubisky played in his playoff debut. Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson failed miserably in their first playoff appearances last weekend, and while Trubisky's first half made it seem like it'd be more of the same, his fourth quarter performance was exceptional and he essentially won the game for the Bears before Parkey failed to clinch it.
I went back and evaluated every one of Trubisky's snaps from that game to give him an overall grade for his playoff debut. See below. And check out this article to get re-introduced and familiarized with my grading system.
FIRST HALF
FIRST DRIVE
Expected pass to Taylor Gabriel (+5 yards).
Expected pass to Ben Braunecker (+6 yards).
Solid pass to Allen Robinson (+8 yards).
Poor pass to Tarik Cohen (Incomplete with plus movement).
Turnover Worthy pass to Jordan Howard (Incomplete).
Drive Summary: -2.75 points
SECOND DRIVE
Expected pass to Taquan Mizzell (Incomplete).
Expected pass to Taylor Gabriel (Incomplete).
Drive Summary: +0 points
THIRD DRIVE
Trubisky zone-read run (-1 yards).
Expected pass to Adam Shaheen (+6 yards).
Expected pass to Anthony Miller (+2 yards).
Very Good pass to Tarik Cohen (+19 yards).
Expected pass to Allen Robinson (+0 yards).
Trubisky scramble (+6 yards).
Drive Summary: +2.5 points
FOURTH DRIVE
Turnover Worthy pass to Allen Robinson (INT, overturned to Incomplete after review).
Solid pass to Allen Robinson (Incomplete deep down the right sideline).
Drive Summary: -2 points
FIFTH DRIVE
Expected pass to Taylor Gabriel (+1 yard).
Expected pass to Anthony Miller (+9 yards with plus pocket movement).
Solid pass to Anthony Miller (+23 yards).
Expected pass to Allen Robinson (+7 yards).
Expected pass to Adam Shaheen (Incomplete).
Expected pass to Allen Robinson (+7 yards).
Big Time pass to Anthony Miller (Incomplete ruling on the field).
Expected pass to Taylor Gabriel (+12 yards).
Turnover Worthy pass to Taylor Gabriel (Incomplete with plus movement).
Expected pass to Tarik Cohen (Incomplete).
Drive Summary: +1.25 points
FIRST HALF SUMMARY: -1 POINTS
FIRST HALF GRADE: D
SECOND HALF
SIXTH DRIVE
Expected pass to Adam Shaheen (+0 yards).
Expected pass to Allen Robinson (+9 yards).
Trubisky sacked (-5 yards).
Expected pass to Ben Braunecker (+9 yards).
Throwaway pass from Trubisky (Incomplete with plus pocket movement).
Drive Summary: -0.5 points
SEVENTH DRIVE
Expected pass to Taylor Gabriel (Incomplete).
Poor pass to Adam Shaheen (+7 yards).
Drive Summary: -1 points
EIGHTH DRIVE
Solid pass to Allen Robinson (+12 yards).
Very Good pass to Allen Robinson (+45 yards).
Solid pass to Allen Robinson (Incomplete).
Expected pass to Tarik Cohen (+1 yard).
Drive Summary: +4 points
NINTH DRIVE
Poor pass to Taylor Gabriel (Incomplete).
Big Time pass to Taylor Gabriel (+19 yards).
Very Good pass to Josh Bellamy (+34 yards).
Very Good pass to Allen Robinson (+22 yards).
Expected pass to Taylor Gabriel (2-PT try fails).
Drive Summary: +6 points
TENTH DRIVE
Trubisky sacked (-7 yards).
Expected pass to Tarik Cohen (+7 yards with plus pocket movement).
Drive Summary: -0.25 points
ELEVENTH DRIVE
Poor throw to Taylor Gabriel (Incomplete).
Very Good throw to Allen Robinson (+25 yards).
Expected throw to Allen Robinson (+8 yards).
Spike by Trubisky.
Poor throw to Anthony Miller (Incomplete).
Drive Summary: +0 points
SECOND HALF SUMMARY: +8.25
SECOND HALF GRADE: B
END OF GAME TOTAL: +7.25 POINTS
END OF GAME GRADE: B
SUMMARY: The live eye test and the tape test both proved that this was a total tale of two halves for Trubisky. He was dreadful in the first 30 minutes, bailed out by three should've-been-picks that weren't that kept the Bears in the game. He made just enough plays in the first two quarters to keep his first half grade above an F, but otherwise looked just like Watson and Jackson did in their games: Terrible.
In the second half, everything changed. The Bears attacked more vertically, especially late in the third quarter, and his results showed. Trubisky was on fire in the second half, scoring a high B for his second half play and being so good that his overall grade for the game raised up to a solid B. And he won the game for the Bears with his final drive until Parkey's miss. That's a story that'll be lost as part of the double-doink narrative, but Trubisky led a game winning drive in his first ever playoff game. His kicker, however, couldn't finish.
A disappointing and heartbreaking end to an unbelievable season. I can't wait to watch Trubisky build on this next year.
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