The Chicago Bears' offense got off to a wobbly start to the 2019 campaign, scoring just three points in the season-opening game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Week 1 struggles epitomized the Bears' problems over the first 10 or so games of the season, with the ground game rarely getting off the turf and Mitchell Trubisky performing at suboptimal levels.
The past two weeks, however, Matt Nagy's offense has found its groove, and Trubisky, in particular, has been better. The QB has 3-plus passing touchdowns and a 90-plus passer rating in each of the last two games.
"We're kind of in a rhythm now; we're a different team," Trubisky said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. "There were some things we had to go through in the first game and the beginning of the season that just didn't go our way. And there's things we learned from as an offense.
"I just feel like we have a newfound identity of what we want to do, and everybody is really locked in to what they have to do."
The Bears have won three consecutive games and four of their last five. Taking raw stats into the equation, Trubisky's numbers are better than Aaron Rodgers' in the last handful of games.
Mitchell Trubisky & Aaron Rodgers Last 5 Games:
Trubisky: 4-1 W-L record; 66.5 completion percentage; 244.6 pass YPG; 11-5 TD-INT; 95.4 passer rating.
Rodgers: 3-2 W-L record; 62.7 completion percentage; 187.2 pass YPG; 7-0 TD-INT; 93.8 passer rating.
Of course, stats can be skewed, and Trubisky torched two wallowing defenses in Detroit and Dallas the past two weeks to boost those numbers.
However, it's undeniable that the third-year signal-caller has improved from a confidence standpoint the past several games, making more self-assured plays, and using his legs more than we'd seen to open the season.
After the Week 1 victory, Packers corner Tramon Williams jabbed the Bears by saying the defense wanted to "make Mitch play quarterback," suggesting if Chicago needed to throw they'd lose. Williams was correct as Trubisky went just 26-of-45 passing for 228 yards, zero TDs and a backbreaking INT to seal the loss.
Trubisky said he'd hadn't heard that quote until it was brought up this week but dismissed it would provide any motivation.
"I got enough motivation from the outside, and I guess that's even more motivation," Trubisky said. "I didn't hear that. I don't really care."
Not only does the QB not care, he tacitly acknowledged the truth within Williams' quote.
"I didn't play the way I wanted to [in] the first game - that's fairly obvious," he said. "So for him to say something about it - I mean, that's just an obvious statement, I guess. I want to play better. Got a great opportunity to do that this week."
The Packers stuffed the Bears' run game and kept Trubisky in the pocket in the first meeting. If Green Bay repeats that performance Sunday in the rematch, will Trubisky be able to duplicate his theatrics of the last two weeks and make them pay or will the Mitch of the beginning of the season reemerge?