The final play of the Bears’ blowout loss in New Orleans was a nifty one-handed touchdown catch by Jimmy Graham that perfectly summarized Chicago’s season on offense: far too little, way too late.
The final touchdown drive to end the 21-9 loss with six points did nothing other than pad the box score and make the offense look 99 yards less anemic after a day it struggled to move the ball.
The TD toss could be the final play in Mitchell Trubisky’s Chicago Bears career. However, the former No. 2 overall pick hopes it’s not the end.
“I think I can definitely see myself back here next year,” Trubisky said, via NBC Sports Chicago. “Obviously a lot of that is out of my control but it feels like home and it feels like we have unfinished business. Right now I’m just bummed about this season being over and how the game went so a lot of emotions going on right now but I can see that. We’ll see.
“There are a lot of things that have to happen and a lot of decisions that have to be made and that’s out of my control and I can see that.”
Sunday’s game perfectly encapsulated the Trubisky experience. Early in the first quarter, the QB threw a perfect dime on a trick play that should have gone for a 40-yard touchdown, but Javon Wims dropped it. The negative play sunk Trubisky, and he played tentative and erratic the rest of the way.
The box score will show he ended up completing 19 of 29 passes for 199 yards and a TD. Before that final garbage-time drive with his team trailing 21-3, he had completed just 10 of 19 passes for 107 yards. It’s never good when nearly half a QB’s yards come on a drive when the defense is already thinking about its locker-room celebration.
The nine points are the fewest in a playoff game for the Bears since a 31-3 loss to the New York Giants in the 1990 Divisional Round.
Once again, it was clear all game that head coach Matt Nagy didn’t trust his quarterback. Missing receivers and facing a very good Saints defense didn’t help, but the play-calling was something you’d see deployed for a rookie backup quarterback, not a former first-rounder in his fourth season.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported before the game that Trubisky needed a deep playoff run to convince the organization he was the man to keep the job.
Clearly, that didn’t happen.
“I know there are decisions that are going to be made this offseason,” Trubisky said. “I feel like I’ve gotten better over these four years and really this season. It’s been tough. There have been some ups and downs. But I’m proud of where I’m at and where we battled and how we got better over the year.”
After returning from his Week 3 benching in Week 12, Trubisky had some nice moments. Unfortunately, those came against bad teams as the Bears backed their way into the postseason. In the past two weeks against playoff squads, Nagy showed he doesn’t trust his quarterback.
Trubisky might hope to return to Chicago next year, but if Nagy is back, he can’t be the top option. Otherwise, the Bears are simply spinning the wheels for another year.
