The Chicago Bears will head into 2020 a disappointed football team. After going 12-4 last season and having Super Bowl hopes this year, they can finish no better than 9-7 and are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. There are plenty of reasons for why this happened. Injuries to key players on defense. A completely dormant rushing attack. No viable options at tight end. An offensive line that has regressed. Of course, most people will point at the quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Is GM Ryan Pace one of them?
Indeed the 25-year old underachieved in 2019. After having a breakout season a year ago, he's managed just 17 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions through 14 games. He'll be lucky to get over 3,000 passing yards. There is no getting around it. He regressed and the rest of the offense couldn't cover for him. This has led to inevitable speculation about whether the Bears might consider a change at the position next spring.
Free agency will feature some interesting names like Teddy Bridgewater among others. They'll also have two picks in the 2nd round, so they could use one on a QB there as well. What nobody knows regarding this idea is what Pace is thinking. This is the man who staked his entire tenure in Chicago on Trubisky. Is he ready to abandon ship after three seasons?
Not according to what he told Chicagobears.com.
“You look at just his knowledge and comfort level in the offense in general. He’s finishing Year 2 in this offensive scheme and every single rep is important for his growth. I think as he gains more reps you just feel his ability to play faster and more decisive and we’ve seen that jump out in the second part of the season. I just think that comes with that experience.”
Ryan Pace hopes Trubisky's late surge is a sign of progress
Pace knows that things got off to a bad start for his quarterback in September and October, but he is correct that Trubisky began to turn a corner somewhat in the past two months. Since the win over Detroit back on November 10th, he has thrown for 1,557 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He's also run for an additional two scores. So this is around the same time of production he was putting up last season. There are signs that he's seeing the game better too.
That said, the consistency issues remain. He has too many interceptable passes still and hasn't quite figured out how to connect on easier throws with regularity. Coaches and teammates have made it clear they haven't lost faith in him. He's their guy. There is something to be said for that. Trubisky hasn't lost the locker room and continues to battle through the struggles where a lot of guys would've folded. So he's mentally tough.
Pace sounds willing to let things play out one more year. Some may think he's crazy. Others just being pragmatic. It's not like the Bears have the resources to overhaul that position. More likely they feel they can shore up the offense at other positions and give him one more year.
