IN THE WAKE OF THE NEWS | David Haugh
Lauding Trubisky all part of Hoodie’s plan
Bears win would take Belichick’s bluster about Trubisky down a peg. Hyperbole is always a part of Patriots coach’s plan.
More calculated than complimentary, coach Bill Belichick heaped heavy praise on the young quarterback before his Patriots defense prepared to make the passer do things worthy of criticism.
“He has a lot of talent; he can make all the throws,” Belichick gushed about NFL journeyman Brandon Weeden — sounding much like the guy who spoke so highly of Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky earlier this week.
That quote from Belichick about Weeden came in October 2015, and the focus of his flattery was a quarterback who entered that Patriots-Cowboys game 5-18 as a starter and exited an overmatched 30-6 loser. The act was vintage Belichick: Publicly build up the opponent’s quarterback as a good match for his own, five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady — no matter how pedestrian that opposing quarterback might be — while privately scheming to exploit weaknesses he finds better than any coach alive.
Consider Belichick’s history of blather before putting too much stock in the kind things he said about Trubisky. Belichick called him a “tough kid” who completed one of the prettiest passes he had seen all year — a 54-yarder to Taylor Gabriel against the Dolphins.
“The execution on that was like 99 out of 100,” Belichick said. Cue the eye roll. All that matters is the Patriots defensive players believe what Belichick says to establish respect that reduces complacency, but nobody else should buy it. Belichick’s patter is as predictable as his game-day attire, so beware of being hoodwinked by The Hoodie, who exaggerates the threat of every quarterback regardless of experience or ability. All coaches prefer to say positive things about upcoming opponents to avoid providing bulletin-board material, but Belichick tends to take the admiration to another level, Lou Holtz style.
Back in 2015, for example, after overselling Weeden, Belichick lauded the acumen and accuracy of Ryan Fitzpatrick, as ordinary a quarterback as there is and who at the time had lost six of seven career starts against the Patriots. Before a game against the Bills last year, Belichick made Tyrod Taylor sound like Jim Kelly in a lengthy monologue that began with, “He’s very good.” From Jay Cutler last year to Blake Bortles last month, Belichick routinely overstates the achievements of quarterbacks who seldom live up to the hype against the Patriots. The list is long and not terribly distinguished.
So keep the focus on Trubisky’s actions more than Belichick’s words when evaluating the development of a young quarterback after 17 NFL starts — whose 18th offers the most room for growth yet. A third straight I-have-arrived performance from Trubisky would not only validate Belichick’s endorsement, but also resonate louder around the league because it came against the Patriots, a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
History shows Belichick can be even rougher on young quarterbacks than he is on reporters, but the challenge to be an exception to the NFL rule is one Trubisky must embrace. Instinct can carry Trubisky only so far against a defense as complex as the one Belichick will devise. Intelligence never has been more necessary than it will be against the Patriots. The defense that gave up 40 points Sunday to the Chiefs — who run the offense Matt Nagy brought to the Bears — figures to come up with something different schematically to confuse Trubisky in ways it couldn’t Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes let smarts complement his skill and completed 23 of 36 passes for 352 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions against the Patriots. But Mahomes had Tyreek Hill, the league’s most dangerous offensive weapon, at wide receiver, defending NFL rushing champion Kareem Hunt at running back and Travis Kelce at tight end. As impressive as the speedy Gabriel, shifty running back Tarik Cohen and tight end Trey Burton have been for the Bears, not even Belichick’s hyperbole could convince anybody they threaten a defense more than the Chiefs trio. If the Chiefs couldn’t win a shootout with the Patriots, the Bears would be foolish to think they could.
Nagy would be wiser to lean heavily on running back Jordan Howard to keep the chains moving and Brady standing on the sideline. That old-school football adage always applies but even more so this week given the iffy status of injured pass rusher Khalil Mack, who Belichick swears is no Lawrence Taylor. The better the running game, the more effective Trubisky will be executing the play-action passing game.
Ironically, the conservatism that foolishly guided Nagy in the overtime loss to the Dolphins represents the smartest approach to survive four quarters against Belichick and the Patriots. This is neither the staff Nagy wants to try to outsmart nor the quarterback Trubisky should be asked to outplay. Keep things simple offensively. Do less with the thought of getting more. Run to set up the pass rather than vice versa. Avoid getting fancy. Embrace being forceful. Execute.
What an opportunity awaits Trubisky and the Bears, who can pretend like the meltdown in Miami never happened with a bounce-back performance at Soldier Field. It was more Belichick embellishment when he claimed the Bears looked like a 5-0 team to him. Belichick knows from his mentor, Bill Parcells, that NFL teams are what their record says they are.
But the Bears are good enough at times to back up Belichick’s talk and improve to 4-2 Sunday with a victory that would change their perception in Chicago and around the league. And that’s no exaggeration.