The advantage of being a home subscriber to Sunday Ticket for the first time is the brilliance of condensed game broadcasts. (These are rebroadcasts of the game with everything but the plays themselves removed.) After several re-watches of Bears/Lions, there are a few clear adjustments Mitch Trubisky can make from Week One to Week Two to keep the chains moving and get this offense into the end zone.
Adjustment #1: Footwork
Whether it be general anxiety or indecisiveness, Mitch’s feet are an absolute mess at times. Not at all times, mind you, but still too frequently for a quarterback in his fourth season. This has to be the focus of the quarterback room all week as several misses…
- Fourth down shank to Ted Ginn
- Air ball to Demetrius Harris in the end zone
- Way-too-short floater to Robinson down the right sideline in the fourth quarter
…were directly attributable to messy mechanics. Set your feet. Release the football.
Adjustment #2: Take What’s There
Two plays stood out to me.
2nd Quarter. 11:08 Remaining. 2nd and 12. When Mitch drops into the pocket, he has Darnell Mooney wide open on a shallow cross.
What did Mitch do? He threw a deep ball five yards by Allen Robinson, who was blanketed in coverage. If he dumps this ball to Mooney, it’s 3rd and 5 at the worst! 3rd and 5 opens the entire playbook for Matt Nagy.
But what about the next play? Now, 3rd and 12. Here’s what Mitch has in front of him when he delivers the football.
Dump it to Montgomery, and he has one or two tackles to break for a first down. Throw down to Wims and he’s getting enough yards for the Bears to plausibly go for it on fourth down. Instead Mitch throws a ridiculous pass to Allen Robinson in quadruple coverage here.
Take. What. Is. There. Let the playmakers make plays. Be the point guard this coaching staff is looking for you to be.
Adjustment #3: Run!
Mitch is the only quarterback in the league with elite running ability who refuses to run. And too many times he passes on an easy 5-7 yards on the grounds in favor of a difficult 10-12 yard completion down the field. And since he’s an inaccurate passer that doesn’t make any sense.
Also, the threat of a running quarterback is hell for defenses. Go see what Russell Wilson did to Atlanta this week. What Kyler Murray did to San Francisco. What Josh Allen did to the Jets. Suddenly they’ll be forced to commit linebackers to the spy role and that should create more space for the new tight ends and Tarik Cohen in the passing game. If the yards are there, take em!
Do I think these adjustments will get made? No. But if Mitch makes them, this offense will score 40 against the Giants Sunday.
