Mitch Trubisky Won’t Score 57 Points (And Doesn’t Have To)

A lot of Chicago Bears fans are inevitably going to compare Mitch Trubisky on Monday Night to what Deshaun Watson did vs. Tennessee.

It was quite the show with the Houston Texans rookie hanging 57 points on the Titans. He finished the day with four touchdown passes and a touchdown run. It looked a lot like one of his vintage games for Clemson last year. The timing of that performance is unfortunate for Trubisky because knee-jerk reacting fans will inevitably expect Trubisky to do the same. They shouldn’t for a variety of reasons, none of them having to do with his talent.

#1:  It’s his first start

One thing above all must be made clear here. Watson is far more experienced at this point than Trubisky is. He started 30 games during his final two years in college and had already started twice before his showcase yesterday. It’s easy to forget he threw two touchdowns and two interceptions in those two games. He didn’t come out of the gate red hot and it would be unfair to expect more than that from Trubisky.

#2:  Watson faced a bad defense

Then there’s the little-known fact that Watson was handed ideal circumstances for what happened. The Titans defense had tried all offseason to improve their talent base, especially in the secondary. It would seem their efforts were in vain. They ranked 28th in the NFL against the pass going into the game. Their pass rush had just five sacks. Like any talented quarterback Watson was going to thrive if they couldn’t pressure him. He was sacked only once. Minnesota is one of the better defenses in football and had six sacks on Sunday.

#3:  Trubisky doesn’t have the weapons

Last but not least, Watson was well-armed. He had one of the best receivers in the game doing the heavy lifting in DeAndre Hopkins. Will Fuller, who caught two touchdowns, is a former 1st round pick. Trubisky will have nothing close to that. Kendall Wright is a castoff from Tennessee, as is Markus Wheaton from Pittsburgh. Deonte Thompson and Josh Bellamy are career backups. Not exactly the ideal tools for racking up the points.

#4:  The Bears don’t need him to throw a ton

Chicago is a team built in the classic style. They have a stout offensive line and two excellent running backs in Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. On top of that they’ve constructed a strong defense that can hold their own against good teams when they aren’t put in bad situations by turnovers. Both blowout losses where they gave up 29 and 35 points were caused by the offense giving it away four times each. If Mitch can make a handful of accurate passes, keep the chains moving and not give it back to the other teams they can win games.