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NFL Week 8 insider notes: Bears should bench Mitchell Trubisky, Bucs also have a big QB problem, and more
Chicago's season has been derailed by its limited QB, and moving forward like this would be foolish
www.cbssports.com
When the Bears moved up to take Mitchell Trubisky in the 2017 draft, leaping absolutely no one to secure his services in the first place ahead of quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, I railed against it. When people tried to tell me how great Trubisky was developing a year ago, I scratched my head.
When some labeled him an MVP candidate before the season, I started to wonder if I was stuck in some warped parallel universe. When people called me crazy for suggesting that Chase Daniel was the preferable option at quarterback to some inside and outside the Bears organization a year ago, and this year, I had a lot of people me calling me crazy. Only, well, I think we all know what is reality and what is fantasy now, two-and-a-half seasons into the Trubisky era in Chicago. And good luck finding even the most ardent, passionate, glass-is-half-full Bears fan who doesn't believe now they have a massive QB problem on their hands.
Had general manager Ryan Pace selected any of the superb options at quarterback, and coupled it with this defense, he'd have a monster on his hands. Instead, it appears as if he has a mistake so substantial that even a suffocating defense that allows 20 yards in the first quarter and hands the ball to Trubisky at the Chargers' 4-yard line – only to see not a yard gained amid tragic and repeated red-zone futility – is not nearly enough to offset the offensive issues.
Don't get it twisted – even a year ago, Trubisky was incredibly limited once the Bears got off their script and on the rare occasions he wasn't gifted the lead and when they occasionally faced a tough defense while playing a much easier schedule. They were always going to regress, substantially, this season. Only even I, a fairly ardent Trubisky skeptic, didn't think it would be this catastrophic this quickly.
The Chargers defense, which has struggled so much this season, had no problems suffocating head coach Matt Nagy's offense on Sunday. The game, frankly, had no business being close; for the Bears to have actually find a way to lose it despite holding the ball for 38 minutes and limiting L.A. to 11 first downs and 231 total yards, while out-rushing the Chargers 162-36, is an indictment of just how bad their starting QB is.
Chicago, somehow, ran 12 plays in the first half inside the Chargers' 10 without scoring a touchdown. They ran nine plays alone inside the 5 and came away with nothing but 20-yard field goals. They were snuffed out on bubble screens and Trubisky threw errant scuds and threw left when the formation seemed to dictate going to his right.
He got away with a shot to the back of the end zone that should have been picked. When he did take the rare deep shot, he got picked off easily and then, late in the game, overthrew his target by five yards. With a chance to put the game away, he fumbled. Never once did he seem at ease or in control. He looks like an elite athlete trying to play quarterback still and read the full field; he doesn't spray the ball around coolly or accurately. There is nothing in his game to connote progress.
If this team had a Jacoby Brissett or Kyle Allen or Gardner Minshew or Teddy Bridgewater – all guys to come in under duress this season as backups and win games – it would be a juggernaut. Instead, it is at a massive crossroads. Trubisky entered the weekend 26th in the NFL in passer rating, with an astoundingly low rate of yards per attempt (5.24) and just five completions over 20 yards, and managed to look as bad as he ever has, at home, with virtually every factor in the game going in his favor.
The Bears moving forward like this, at 3-4, in need of consistency and a heartbeat in the passing game, seems foolish. Daniel won't be spectacular, but he may provide the best chance to saving the season at this point, while big questions about whether the quarterback of the 2020 Bears threatens to loom over the second half.
Winston should be on the sidelines, too
Speaking of teams in need of new QBs next season, the unraveling of the end of Jameis Winston's time in Tampa is a tough watch. This game began with a snap clanking off his facemask for a lost fumble and ended with him throwing yet another pick, and there was plenty of tragi-comedy in between. Bruce Arians must be pulling out his hair after this loss at the Titans, a defeat that was due largely to the discrepancies in turnovers.
That's where Winston comes in. He coughed the ball up four more times, which runs his season total to 16, a staggering figure on its own. Since the start of 2018, Winston has accounted for 32 giveaways in 18 games. Let that sink in for a minute. No team is going to overcome that, especially one still trying to retool the defense and figure out the running game. The problem is the Bucs don't have a Ryan Tannehill (or even, ahem, Ryan Fitzpatrick type) to turn the offense over to in an attempt to sustain. Tannehill again had Titans fans forgetting about Marcus Mariota with three TD passes. Winston, who completed less than half of his passes Sunday, should be on the sidelines, too.
Elway in another perilous position
The latest Broncos debacle should make certain that Chris Harris and Derek Wolfe are on the move, if not others. At 2-6, with an offense in need of a transplant and the defense not what it once was, and a 60-something rookie head coach and another QB change ahead, John Elway finds himself in another perilous position. That team is not going to be good again any time soon and if I was in charge, I would be on the phone all day Monday finding out what is the biggest possible return I could get for Von Miller with two team options left on his contract.
More insider notes from Week 8
- The Falcons, again out of the game at halftime, didn't start playing until garbage time. That's the M.O., down 24-0 at the half and outscored an NFL-worst -94 in the first half this season as they head to their bye. Owner Arthur Blank should go ahead and make his coaching change now to get a jump on what should be heavy competition for a limited pool of top candidates in 2020. …
- Philip Rivers had yet another slow start and he certainly seems to be slowing down. The Chargers offense should be better than this with all of the personnel there and Rivers had another early pick Sunday to make things more difficult. The Chargers are the biggest disappointment in the NFL to me -- even with this win in Chicago -- at the halfway point, and that franchise may have some serious macro-level issues to weigh come January. They have thought long and hard about drafting a quarterback in a high round for years. …
- The Bengals have a super long flight back from London, still winless, which they should use to devise a strategy to maximize Tuesday's trade deadline. There is no other action that makes any sense at all. Start the rebuild now, Mike Brown, when you can dominate a seller's market at the deadline. …
- It was yet another week where Minshew showed he can play in this league and deserves to keep his job whenever Nick Foles is healthy. …
- Matthew Stafford was an absolute stud again (25-for-32 for 342 yards and three TDs). Threw one early pick he'd want back, but playing some great football this season. His 16 TD passes trails only Russell Wilson (17). …
- The Saints are the best team in football and get Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook back coming out of a Week 9 bye, and also could pull off a significant trade this week, too. They are as all-in as it gets.
