The last time the Bears played the Buccaneers, Mitch Trubisky threw six touchdown passes in a 48-10 rout on Sept. 30, 2018 at Soldier Field — a performance coach Matt Nagy knew could be a watershed moment for Trubisky.
“Hopefully this is a day we look back and say, ‘You remember that day he had that great game and it helped catapult him,’’’ Nagy said after that game.
As it turns out, that glorious moment will go down as one of the great false-positives in Bears history — taking advantage of a Buccaneers defense that finished 27th in the NFL in yards and 31st in points. Two years later, Trubisky is on the bench and Nagy’s star as part of the wave of young, progressive, outside-the-box-thinking coaches has dimmed considerably.
The Bears are 3-1, but have done nothing to shake the label that the Bears mostly feast on losing teams. Their three victories this season have come against the Lions (1-3), Giants (0-4) and Falcons (0-4).
The return of the Buccaneers to Chicago on Thursday night puts the Nagy era into a big-picture perspective. The team the Bears so thoroughly whipped in 2018 that Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said, “We should fire everyone that was on that field, starting with me. That was horrific,” returns as a revamped contender — and a five-point road favorite — with a proven coach in Bruce Arians and Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady.
The Bears? They’re still trying to live up to the promise of that magnificent 2018 performance. Trubisky threw five touchdowns and the Bears had 400 total yards in the first half in taking a 38-3 lead. His six touchdowns tied Johnny Lujack for the second most in franchise history. His 154.6 passer rating is the third best in franchise history. The Bears’ 48-point total was their highest since 1980.
“That was one of those games where a lot of things went our way,” Nagy said. “It was an explosive day and one of those you always remember. It’s not easy to have those games all the time.”
Nobody expected the Bears to be that prolific every week. What’s disconcerting is that they’ve lost the template that created that blowout:
- The Bears scored a touchdown on five of their first six possessions and 38 points in the first half in that 2018 game. In 2019-20, the Bears are last in the NFL in first-half scoring (7.7 points per game).
- Trubisky rushed for 53 yards on three attempts (17.7 avg.) In 2019-20, Trubisky has averaged 15.6 rushing yards per game and 5.0 per carry — a declining critical element in his game that accelerated his demise.
- Tight end Trey Burton caught passes for 47 and 39 yards. The Bears haven’t had a pass play longer than 30 yards to a tight end since. In 2019-20, Bears tight ends are averaging 29.3 yards per game and 9.0 yards per catch.
- With momentum on his side, Nagy used a formation he called “Willy Wonka,” in the second quarter where backup Chase Daniel lined up next to Trubisky in the shotgun, with both quarterbacks looking like they would get the snap. Trubisky threw a shovel pass to Taylor Gabriel — then faked a handoff to Daniel — for a three-yard touchdown. In 2019-20, the “fun plays” have all but dried up.
- Running back Tarik Cohen was at his best as a gadget weapon, with 174 total yards on 20 touches (8.7 avg.) — 13 carries for 53 yards and seven receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown. In 2019-20, Cohen averaged 41 total yards per game and 4.8 per touch.
Nagy still has hope the Bears will get back into that offensive groove. But two years ago, they had more than hope.
“There’s things we did in that game that we continue to grow from,” Nagy said, “but we understand that this process with this offense with where we’re at in two-and-a-half years now … I feel right now, building identity with some new coaches, some new players that we’re in the right direction.”
