The story of the Bears' 2019 season will center around slow starts. Week after week, month after month, the Bears offense couldn't get out of its own way through the first half of games only to show life and upside from the third quarter on. It was a predictable storyline that could be written before kickoff and would prove true by the final whistle.
It happened again Sunday against the Packers when the Bears managed just three points in a lackluster first half at Lambeau Field. Chicago totaled 115 yards of offense only to churn out 300 yards in the second half. And while points were still hard to come by over the final 30 minutes of the game, the Bears scored 10 points in the third and fourth quarters as opposed to just three in the first two.
“We have just taken too long to get things rolling,” running back Tarik Cohen said after the game. “It has kind of been the same thing magnified with the season. We took too long to get things going with our season.”
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Now eliminated from postseason contention, the Bears are left to wonder what if.
What if Matt Nagy schemed more play-action and rollouts for Trubisky earlier in the season? What if wide receiver Anthony Miller was given more opportunities to make plays in September instead of waiting for the calendar to flip to November? What would the offense have looked like if the Bears gave tight ends Jesper Horsted and J.P. Holtz a chance to play instead of remaining loyal to Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen for so long?
The next two weeks aren't meaningless for the Bears, especially considering this team has enough talent to be a consistent playoff contender for the foreseeable future. The difference between an 8-8 team and one that wins 12 games may come down to just a personnel decision or two, which could be based on evaluations conducted over the next two Sundays.
The biggest evaluation will take place at quarterback, where Trubisky has probably done enough to hold onto the starting job for another offseason. But his inconsistent performance against the Packers didn't help his effort to silence his critics. And if his postgame press conference on Sunday is any indication of where he's at mentally, Trubisky might be entering self-preservation mode.
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“I felt like our O-line played really well. I thought we could’ve taken more pressure off them moving in the pocket a little more and me getting out,” Trubisky said after the game. “We’ve got to continue to find ways to take pressure off our O-line. With a good rush like that, continue to mix it up, whether it’s with screens, running it, draws — all that kind of stuff helps."
So was Trubisky saying the gameplan was to blame? Should the Bears have called plays to help the offensive line? Maybe.
“Could’ve done a lot of stuff, yeah,” Trubisky said.
Trubisky, like the Bears, would've benefited from starting faster all year. But for the last two weeks of the season, it'll be more about playing well and establishing which players belong in the team's plans for 2020 and beyond.
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