WORST LEADS TO BEST-CHASE SCENARIO
Daniel is no great shakes, but he has to be an upgrade over woeful Trubisky
If you’re a glutton for punishment, as I am, you pay attention to what other quarterbacks not named Mitch Trubisky are doing around the NFL on a weekly basis.
On Sunday, you might have chosen to spend some time with Kansas City’s Matt Moore, a backup quarterback in every sense of the term. He filled in for an injured Patrick Mahomes and completed 25 of 35 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs’ victory over the Vikings. A loyal Bears fan would give up a limb for that kind of success from Trubisky.
The Bears’ Chase Daniel is a lot like Moore in that A) he’s a career backup and B) he’s better than Trubisky is. That doesn’t mean Daniel is any great shakes. It just means he can’t be worse than Mitch and thus gives the 3-5 Bears a better chance to win games.
It’s why coach Matt Nagy has to make a change at quarterback.
If Nagy truly wants his players to believe that performance dictates starting jobs and that victories are the Bears’ entire reason for being, then Daniel should start Sunday against the Lions.
If Nagy doesn’t make the switch, it will be impossible for him to look his players in the eye. They’ve seen a quarterback who consistently overthrows receivers. They’ve seen a quarterback who can’t look beyond his primary receiver. They’ve seen an offense that has been dumbed down to accommodate a struggling quarterback.
The Bears didn’t lose to the Eagles on Sunday because of Trubisky, but they weren’t going to win the game because of him. That’s really all you need to know about where they are with their quarterback. Eighty-three of his 125 passing yards came on two passes to wideopen receivers. By “wide open,’’ I mean “had time to get a coffee and check emails.’’
Daniel isn’t close to being great, but he’s a much more accurate passer than Trubisky. If you’re tired of Mitch missing receivers — and I’m guessing his teammates are bone-tired of it — then the answer is to send in Daniel.
In two games this season while Trubisky was injured, Daniel completed 73.3 percent of his passes and had a 95.6 passer rating. Trubisky has completed 63 percent and has an 80.0 passer rating, among the worst in the NFL for starting quarterbacks. Daniel is averaging 7.1 yards per pass, Trubisky 5.6. So if merit matters, Trubisky should spend Sunday looking for the best painted faces in the crowd at Soldier Field.
Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace love talking about the special “culture’’ inside the Bears’ locker room. They say it’s filled with players who care about each other. I’ll bet it’s filled with players who really like Mitch the person but can’t stand Mitch the quarterback.
This season isn’t about developing Trubisky. It’s about trying to win as many games as possible. The experiment to turn an inexperienced college quarterback into an NFL standout has been a failure. He was never going to be a franchise quarterback. Everybody knows that now, so why keep up the charade?
The argument has always been that the Bears have invested too much in Trubisky to change course. That argument is officially dead.
In the offseason, they have to sign a veteran quarterback who can get them back to the playoffs. New Orleans’ Teddy Bridgewater, who cut up the Bears a few weeks ago, would be perfect. He’ll be a free agent after the season.
With that in mind, there’s no point in continuing to play Trubisky. Let Daniel play out the second half of the season and see if the team responds to the 11-year veteran. There’s nothing to lose except games, and the Bears, losers of four in a row, are already doing that.
Trubisky isn’t totally to blame for his failings. Nagy has refused to call running plays for his very mobile quarterback, and he has planted Trubisky in the pocket like a tree rather than roll him out on pass plays. It defies logic.
The Bears’ offense is a mess, but just because everybody involved has had a hand in that, it doesn’t follow that Trubisky should keep his job. And just because Pace has whiffed at several other positions, especially tight end, it doesn’t mean he should stick with a quarterback who was also a complete whiff.
Everybody has failed, and Trubisky needs to be benched. Both statements can be true.
This is less a vote for Daniel than it is a vote for pretty much anybody but Mitch. That’s where the Bears are right now. Down and heading for out. Time for a change.