I don’t think I’ve ever wanted an athlete to succeed more than with Mitchell Trubisky. You can tell that he is a genuinely good person, and it’s hard not to feel bad for what the guy has endured in recent years. He was absolutely shredded by fans and media last year and was controversially benched during the Bears’ week three game in Atlanta earlier this season. With Nick Foles being held out of practice due to an injury he sustained at the end of the Bears’ last game two weeks ago, Trubisky came off the bye week with a full week of starter reps at practice, ready to suit up against the Packers on Sunday Night Football.

Starting Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 16-4 against the Bears as a starter, with one of those losses coming after he broke his collarbone during the game. On the other hand, Trubisky is 1-4 against the Packers. In five total starts he’s scored five touchdowns and thrown three interceptions, averaging 270.6 yards per game. In a prime time outing against a heated rival, Trubisky and company looked to steal a win from their storied rivals

Likes

There really aren’t any positive takeaways I could gather from this blowout loss to the team’s arch-rivals on national television. If anything, This spurred the most negative thoughts about the team I’ve had in years. I have no faith in the offense, I’m questioning the defense, I don’t trust any of our quarterbacks, and the entire team administration doesn’t appear to know how to operate a football team. Social media was buzzing about a full rebuild, tearing apart this team we’ve known the past few years and starting fresh. I’ll put those worries aside for the offseason. In an effort to add something positive, I’ll link David Montgomery’s 57-yard run early in the first quarter. It’s only fitting that perhaps the only memorable offensive play of the night ultimately ended in a field goal.

Dislikes

It wouldn’t be a Mitch Trubisky game without a couple of demoralizing interceptions, and he delivered on that. He threw two picks, both to safety Darnell Savage. First came this one on a first-down deep ball to the endzone, the second was the result of an ill-advised throw into triple coverage. It should be mentioned that he fumbled as well, but upon reviewing the play, he was clearly facemasked twice and it’s hard to really fault Trubisky for that. But still, it remains true, when Trubisky makes mistakes, they’re always ugly ones.

The outcome of the game was made clear long before the final whistle blew. With this in mind, the Bears’ offense put up 25 sloppy points while the defense looked like they just wanted to go home. The unit was depleted without the man in the middle, Akiem Hicks. Hicks has long been the glue that keeps the defense’s greatness intact. We saw what happened during his hiatus in 2019, and his absence against Green Bay proved critical. The Bears front seven and linebackers recorded zero. This combined with the exhaustion from countering Chicago’s miserable offense all year appeared as if they were just going through the motions, motivated by nothing but their paycheck. And can you blame them? I’m not so sure you can at this point.

Before I begin discussing the officiating, I should offer a disclaimer; The Bears still would have lost this game had these calls been made, but while it would not alter the basic outcome, the margin of defeat should have been slightly slimmer. The most notable of the several officiating errors came on the play where the Packers scooped-and-scored off of a Trubisky fumble. As the Bears’ quarterback was being brought to the ground, his facemask was grabbed not once, but twice, causing the turnover play. Instead of being disciplined with the standard 15-yard penalty for grabbing the facemask, Green Bay was rewarded with a touchdown. Earlier in the first half, Bears defensive tackle Bilal Nichols was flagged for “roughing the passer” after slightly tapping Rodgers during a play.

 Darnell Savage picked up Bears receiver Darnell Mooney and held him until fellow Packers safety Kevin King came over and threw a punch, directly in front of the line judge. They were not penalized. Clete Blakeman was the head office of this game, you may recognize his name from last year’s Monday Night Football game between the Packers and Detroit Lions, where he and his crew all but handed the game to Green Bay via a string of bogus penalties. As I said before, even if all of Sunday’s calls went in Chicago’s favor as they should have, The Bears still wouldn’t have won this game. It’s just yet another case of the NFL clearly favoring the Green Bay Packers. 

Recap

It’s so hard to root for this team week after week. Everything just keeps getting worse. In their five-game losing streak, the Bears have had the lead for 26 out of the 300 minutes played. They’ve shown no ability to adjust; in third quarters this year, the team has scored 7 points twice. In the other nine games, they were held scoreless. The coaches blame the personnel, but it seems whenever the Bears part ways with a player, he seems to find success wherever they go. Tight ends Adam Shaheen and Trey Burton each have been consistent parts of the Dolphins and Colts’ offenses, respectively. Each have multiple touchdowns on the year. Defensive end Leonard Floyd has seven sacks in his first year with the Rams, only 0.5 sacks more than Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn (Floyd’s pricy replacement) have combined. 

Next week the Bears take on the Detroit Lions, marking their second meeting and Chicago’s third straight divisional game. Neither Matt Nagy nor Mitchell Trubisky have ever lost to Detroit during their tenure in Chicago, they’ll look to continue that streak while both of them still have the reigns to the team. Just like their matchup in week one, both teams’ injury reports are very heavy, with several starters listed as out or doubtful. Earlier this week, Lions head coach Matt Patricia was fired alongside GM Bob Quinn. It’ll be up to interim head coach Darren Bevell to work with the injured team he’s been handed and try to defeat a demoralized Chicago team.