It couldn’t have been an easy decision for Bears coach Matt Nagy to pull the plug on Mitch Trubisky in the third quarter of Chicago’s 30-26 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.
Sure, Trubisky was playing like a quarterback who didn’t deserve to be in a starting lineup and it was pretty obvious the Bears didn’t have a chance to win the game as long as he remained behind center. But the awkward yet unspoken conflict between what Nagy might think is in the best interest of the team, and GM Ryan Pace’s desire to see his hand-picked franchise quarterback pan out has always been at play.
For Nagy to all but close the book on Trubisky’s career in Chicago, he had better be certain in his decision.
On Sunday, Nagy trusted his gut when he made the franchise-altering change.
“I think really when I knew it (was time to make the switch) was the interception there on third down,” Nagy said. “We were struggling on third down a lot. We weren’t producing points in the red zone and I just think that sometimes there is a gut feeling as to when to do it. That seemed like the right time.”
It certainly was.
Nick Foles entered the game with the Bears trailing by 16, and in typical Foles fashion, rallied his offense to a win with three fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Nagy knew it was time. And he was right. His decision to bench Trubisky resulted in a Bears win.
Nagy, even more than Foles, won the game for Chicago in Week 3.
