Chicago Bears Stat of the Day: Passer Rating
By Erik Lambert
This is a stat has really told the tale of just how difficult life has been for the Chicago Bears over the past few decades at quarterback.
Despite living in an era where the rulebook is designed to make QBs successful, the Bears keep finding ways to maintain their crown as one of the worst developers of the position in the NFL. Nowhere is this reflected more than in their team passer rating. For the 2016 season between Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley they managed an 81.8 rating. That was good enough to rank them 25th overall in the league.
This isn’t something that has shown much improvement over the years. Here is a rundown of every rating they’ve had since 2003.
- 2003: 61.0
- 2004: 61.7
- 2005: 60.8
- 2006: 73.4
- 2007: 72.2
- 2008: 77.1
- 2009: 75.6
- 2010: 77.8
- 2011: 73.8
- 2012: 80.4
- 2013: 96.9
- 2014: 87.3
- 2015: 89.7
- 2016: 81.8
For those still wondering why the Bears spent a lot of money and draft picks on Mike Glennon and Mitch Trubisky, this list provides a clear answer. Just one in 13 years has this team managed a rating above 90. Another little fun fact to add to this. Of the 14 champions to be crowned over that span, eight of them ranked in the top five for quarterback rating. So clearly it’s important.
Can Glennon or Trubisky reverse this trend? For his career Glennon boasts an 84.6 quarterback rating. That hovers right around the league average, which is something the Bears are quite familiar with. It’s for that reason more than most why expectations remain so low for the veteran. It’s also why anticipation grows for Trubisky. He only threw six interceptions in 13 games for North Carolina last year. His accuracy and ball placement are well-documented on tape.
He has the capacity to finally pull the franchise into the modern era of top tier quarterback play. A time that fans have yearned for while having to watch teams like Green Bay and Detroit enjoy it to the fullest. Time will tell if the Bears made the right decisions.