Mitch Trubisky stares down the final eight games of 2019 with clear alarm. It's apparent to everybody with common sense that his grip on the starting job is severely weakened. Many have called on the Chicago Bears to bench him for Chase Daniel. Others were shocked the team didn't make a trade for a replacement back in October. Either way, it's apparent that if his poor play continues he may not survive into 2020.
So what in the world happened? How did it come to this? Well, a lot of it is him and the offense in general playing so poorly, wasting what should've been a season aimed at going after a Super Bowl. However, if one looks at Trubisky's legacy in Chicago to this point, they will be reminded of one overarching reality.
Just how cursed the young quarterback has been by the failures of the Bears' kicking position. This isn't an understatement either. To date, three games were lost because of a kicker in Trubisky's tenure that ultimately wasted a supremely clutch moment from the quarterback. Not only did it rob him of more respect, but it also may have eroded his confidence.
Mitch Trubisky suffers most from the Bears kicking woes
November 19th, 2017 vs. the Detroit Lions
A lot of people don't remember this game mostly because it took place during a down season. Trubisky was a rookie and living in the shadow of Deshaun Watson at that point. This game could've been his coming-out party. Trailing 27-24, he faced 4th and 15 with 28 seconds left. He takes the snap, finds nobody open and takes off running. Through sheer force of will, he picked up 19 yards for the 1st down. On the next play, he hit Dontrelle Inman for another 15 yards, giving Connor Barth a 46-yard attempt to force overtime.
It sailed wide.
January 6th, 2019 vs. the Philadelphia Eagles
This is the one most people will remember. Trubisky had arguably the greatest second half of a playoff game a Bears quarterback has ever had against Philadelphia that night. He threw for over 140 yards and a touchdown while giving them the lead late. After the Eagles went ahead, he threw two pretty passes including a dagger 25-yarder to Allen Robinson that got them into field goal range. If Cody Parkey can hit it from 43 yards, Trubisky becomes the talk of the NFL for his late-game heroics.
Everybody knows what happened next.
October 27th, 2019 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers
This might've been the one that put the final nail in the coffin. The game itself wasn't a memorable one for Trubisky, but he still managed to summon some of that late-game magic after the Bears fell behind 17-16. Facing 1:33 left in the game, he engineered a drive that covered 44 yards, capped by an 11-yard scramble that helped set up Eddy Pineiro with a 41-yard field goal for a chance to escape with the victory. As is expected by this point, Pineiro hooked it just left and the Bears fell again.
Mitch Trubisky is not free of blame for how far he's fallen in the past few months. He is responsible in large part for his own poor play. At the same time, it's fair to wonder how much different he might be viewed today had those kicks gone through. Would his job be in clear jeopardy as it is right now? Probably not. He'd be getting harassed for sure, but people wouldn't be calling for his head nearly as much. That is how brutal the NFL can be to individual careers in a team-oriented sport.
