NEWSLETTER
Last we saw Mitch Trubisky, he was throwing the ball, but only out of necessity as the Bears found themselves trailing in their Week 8 tilt against the New Orleans Saints.
Typically, as you well know, Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains has played it close to the vest with his rookie quarterback, employing a run-heavy attack in order to keep Trubisky from throwing the kind of gut-punch interceptions that tilted the scales in favor of the opposition.
The Green Bay Packers’ defense comes into Sunday’s game reeling, presenting an opportunity for Trubisky to throw the ball more, but putting up points might not be as easy as Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford have made it look in recent weeks.
Quick reminder of how many guys GB will have in the “ Box “ to stop the run. You design the run play ! pic.twitter.com/mYPyBAUgXE
— Olin kreutz (@olin_kreutz) November 8, 2017
Olin Kreutz, who played center at a high level for the Bears for 13 years, reminds us what looks Green Bay will send Chicago in an attempt to stuff the run this Sunday. Without getting too technical, let’s just say that’s a whole mess of people in the box ready for a back to run into the teeth of the defense.
And this is precisely why the Bears must establish the pass with Trubisky. Chicago needs to show a willingness to move the ball vertically and an ability to do it successfully in order to loosen up a defense that believes it can shut down the Bears offense by simply stopping the one thing with which they’re comfortable/successful – running the ball.
Led by Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, the Bears rank sixth in average rushing yards per game (130.1) and 10th in yards per attempt (4.3). Howard has been the main contributor to the Bears’ high-powered rushing offense, with 662 rushing yards which puts him fifth in the NFL and on a pace for a second consecutive 1,300-yard season. The second-year Indiana product seems to be getting stronger, too. Howard has posted three 100-yard rushing games and averaging 4.3 yards per rush since his Week 2 clunker in which he gained seven yards on nine rushes.
Howard now has his sights set on a Packers defense that ranks 22nd in points allowed (23.9) and 23rd in average rushing yards allowed (118.0), but, again, he’ll have a tougher time succeeding if the Bears don’t establish the pass first.
Fortunately, Trubisky wants to throw and his offensive coordinator might finally be ready to loosen the shackles and allow it to happen. Statistically speaking, it should be a good game plan anyway, as Green Bay has yielded the sixth highest average yards per pass attempt and eighth highest passer efficiency rating to opposing quarterbacks. That defense isn’t very good right now on either front and should be ripe for the picking.
So once the Bears establish the pass, they can revert to their run-happy ways. And why wouldn’t they? It sure seems to work!
