MITCH LACKING HELP BENEFITS
Like Chiefs’ Mahomes, Trubisky needs his playmakers to come up big
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ record-setting start to the season began with an 11-yard throw to wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
It was a run-pass option play on secondand-four from the Chiefs’ 42 on the road against the Chargers. Mahomes was nearly sacked, but he got his throw off to Hill, who ran a slant.
What happened next is what Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky — still looking for his breakout moment — needs.
Hill sidestepped a tackle by safety Jahleel Addae in the open field, cut across the middle and raced down the opposite sideline for a 58-yard touchdown.
Mahomes’ record-setting start of 13 touchdown passes through his first three games began with an 11-yard toss that Hill took 47 more yards into the end zone. It was the first touchdown pass of Mahomes’ career.
The players around a young quarterback make him better by making big plays for him. And there are more examples for Mahomes, too. Two of his four touchdown passes against the Chargers were reverse shovel passes on the goal line to Hill and wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas.
In Week 2 against the Steelers, running back Kareem Hunt scored on a swing pass in which he stiff-armed his way past rookie safety Terrell Edmunds for a five-yard touchdown. Last week against the 49ers, wide receiver Sammy Watkins broke three tackles en route to a 12-yard touchdown on a slant route.
Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson’s historic success last year as a rookie also
featured some greatness from those around him. Watson’s 72-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins against the Seahawks began three yards behind the line of scrimmage. It was a quick screen that Hopkins took to the house.
All of the above isn’t meant to disparage Mahomes or Watson. They’re obviously better than Trubisky at this point in their respective careers. The statistics clearly show that.
But when will those game-changing plays unfold for Trubisky, especially if the Bears are going to pare down his playbook while still demanding chunk plays?
After all, they signed wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel and tight end Trey Burton in free agency and drafted wide receiver Anthony Miller (who’s out with a dislocated shoulder) and running back Tarik Cohen to help deliver them.
Who’s going to turn a short completion into something bigger and better? Which receiver is going to turn a quick screen into a long score?
Those are appropriate questions for this week. The Buccaneers rank 31st in pass defense, but they also boast the NFL’s top passing attack. With quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and DeSean Jackson and tight end O.J. Howard, the Bucs are averaging more than 400 passing yards per game.
Part of the problem is Trubisky himself. He needs to recognize what he’s seeing at the line of scrimmage and be more accurate with his throws. Mahomes and Watson also have been better under pressure.
Still, Trubisky isn’t the one who’s failing to maintain blocks on quick screens or is unable to shake off tacklers down the field. When it comes to yards after catch (YAC), coach Matt Nagy said he couldn’t think of a play in three games in which he felt the Bears were close to breaking one.
“It hasn’t jumped out at me yet,” Nagy said. “But those are nice to have, and those are a big part of having successful plays, some of those chunk plays. We’re down right now in those shot plays, in successfully completing chunk plays, and those [YAC plays] help.”
The Bears only have four pass plays that have gone for 20 yards or more.
Last week, Robinson was one broken tackle away from turning his 39-yard reception into a highlight-reel score. In the opener against the Packers, Gabriel nearly turned a 31-yard reception into more by spinning out of two tackles.
“The run after the catch, it hasn’t necessarily jumped out at me like we’re really good or we’re really bad,” Nagy said. “I feel like there’s not enough volume right now to understand that with three games. Hopefully, by the time we get to the end of the year, that’s something we excel in.”
There are trends to consider, though. According to Pro Football Focus, the Bears have run 21 screens in the first three games, trailing only the Steelers, who’ve run 25.
Trubisky has completed 19 of those passes for 91 yards. With PFF counting shovel passes, that includes Burton’s three-yard score in Week 2. Trubisky’s two incompletions came on a throwaway and penalty.
Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich described the Bears’ blocking on screens as “not good enough” in the first three weeks.
“That’s another situation where we had guys where they could double-team [opponents],” Helfrich said. “[It’s] just simple things like that of just taking advantage of those types of things, turning a one-yard gain into a six-yard gain. That changes everything. That’s just a totally different mindset on that second down rather than second-and-10 or second-andnine. But, yeah, everybody has contributed to our lack of production.”
If Trubisky gets the ball to his playmakers — which he often says he wants to do — then it’s time for them to help their young quarterback, who continues to be heavily scrutinized. Such plays have helped Mahomes.
“I think we’ve been one missed connection, a tipped ball away from throwing a hot route for an untouched, walk-in touchdown,” Helfrich said. “Those things are as frustrating as heck, but they’re things you have to go through.”