Mitchell Trubisky had a season for the ages in 2020. To compare it to a rollercoaster would be a disservice. Calling it topsy-turvy would be selling it short. Trubisky’s season was wild, weird, annoying, and more — all in one.
But the word that keeps coming to my mind most is frustrating.
That’s because Trubisky faced — by far — the easiest defensive matchups among all quarterbacks this season ….
Final strength of schedule for QBs in terms of opposing pass defenses.
The value on the x-axis can be interpreted as the number you have to add to the QBs' EPA/pass play figure to get a defense-adjusted version. In particular, negative numbers mean an easier schedule. pic.twitter.com/cX1AGsgYXM
— Moo (@PFF_Moo) January 5, 2021
… and underperformed while doing so.
Meanwhile, you can see that Nick Foles caught the short end of the stick, as his competition is on the other side of the spectrum. But this post isn’t about Foles. Instead, I’m sharing this to provide perspective and an attempt at an explanation as to why we saw Trubisky’s numbers look as good as he did. And even while facing a lesser quality of defensive opponent, Trubisky didn’t do nearly as well as he probably should have. Frankly, Trubisky underperformed based on the level of competition he faced. And that’s what hurts me the most when thinking about where the Bears are offensively. Better yet, it tells us where their quarterback room is and provides a hint at what should be done moving forward.
Earlier in the season, we discussed how average quarterback play could have made the Bears a very good team. And now, having seen the graphic above, we’re seeing how far the Bears are from getting average play from the position.