When the Chicago Bears (7-7) square off against the Kansas City Chiefs (10-4) on Sunday Night Football, there won’t be playoff hopes on the line for Chicago. But there will be plenty to play for.
Whether it’s Mitchell Trubisky looking to continue his streak of positive performances (and against the MVP quarterback taken after him in the NFL Draft) or Matt Nagy facing off against Andy Reid or young guys playing for starting jobs next season, there are no shortage of storylines heading into this primetime affair.
Here are four storylines to watch as the Bears face the Chiefs on Sunday.
1. Mitchell Trubisky vs. Patrick Mahomes
This isn’t necessarily a new storyline in the NFL world — the Mitchell Trubisky/Patrick Mahomes or Trubisky/Deshaun Watson comparisons. The comparisons are inevitable, and they’ll follow Trubisky through his entire NFL career.
But those comparisons will be even louder and more prominent as Trubisky and Mahomes face off for the first time on an NFL football field. And the NFL gods couldn’t have scripted it any better than on a primetime stage where all the NFL world will watch and discuss.
While the outcome of this game will have no bearing on the bigger picture — Mahomes is a special talent with a bright future in this league and Trubisky is a mixed bag whose future has yet to be determined — you’d have to imagine if Trubisky can come out and outperform Mahomes — if only once — it’ll be a source of confidence heading into 2020.
2. Matt Nagy vs. Andy Reid
Another storyline that has been prominent this week has been the Matt Nagy and Andy Reid reunion, which will unite the former colleagues on opposing sidelines. Although they’re headed in different directions — with Reid headed to the postseason and Nagy not.
This won’t be the first time Nagy and Reid have faced off against each other, as they did so last preseason. Nagy opted to rest his starters while Reid played his well into the third quarter. Nagy’s second stringers got the best of Reid’s starters in the preseason win. Although you can’t much stock in preseason. It’ll be interesting to see if the teacher gets the best of the student when it counts.
3. Can the Bears offense get back on track?
While the offense has been an unmitigated disaster this season, they had made strides over the previous two games before last week’s disappointment against the Packers. There was plenty to blame for the offense’s struggles last week — play calling, lack of a run game, inconsistent quarterback play.
But the question becomes: Can the offense get back on track where they found success three weeks earlier? While the Chiefs are a middle of the pack defense, they’ve been growing into themselves over the last few weeks. So it won’t be an easy task for Mitchell Trubisky and this offense. But if Matt Nagy goes back to what this offense does well — up-tempo, getting the run game going, utilizing Trubisky’s mobility — then perhaps they can rediscover the spark that was 13 weeks in the making for this offense.
4. What is there left to play for?
If the Bears had beaten the Packers last Sunday, this would be a very different game with playoff contention on the line. But the fact of the matter is that the Bears were eliminated from playoff contention shortly after last week’s loss, and there’s nothing of significance left to play for — at least in the 2019 scope.
While the Bears won’t be vying for a Super Bowl this postseason, there’s a lot of work to be done in the offseason, and that scouting begins now. With defensive starters like injured linebacker Danny Trevathan and cornerback Prince Amukamara likely on the way out, there are some young guys playing for starting jobs next season.
Guys like second-year cornerback Kevin Toliver, receivers Javon Wims and Riley Ridley, offensive lineman Alex Bars and linebackers Kevin Pierre-Louis and Nick Kwiatkoski, who looks to have already played his way into a contract extension this offseason.
