It’s never all great or all bad with Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky. As frustrating as his performance was in the season opener, he made plays that sparked optimism going into the game Sunday against the Broncos.
In fact, some of Trubisky’s best work was negated by those around him.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, with the Bears trailing 7-3, an unnecessary-roughness penalty on the Packers gave them a first down at their 42-yard line. Trubisky rolled right and hit receiver Taylor Gabriel to reach Packers territory, then everything unraveled.
‘‘It was all levels of our offense,’’ left tackle Charles Leno said. ‘‘Whether it was the play-calling, the offensive line, getting in and out of the huddle, it was not a really good operation.’’
Trubisky found Gabriel at the Packers’ 20, but Gabriel dropped the ball and Leno committed a holding penalty.
Trubisky hit running back Tarik Cohen on a quick pass, but Leno was whistled for hands to the face.
On first-and-30, Trubisky dodged traffic in the pocket and launched one to Gabriel at the Packers’ 15. But the officials flagged Gabriel for pushing off the defender.
It kept going. A short throw to Cohen was dropped, a medium-range pass deflected off receiver Allen Robinson’s hands and coach Matt Nagy finally conceded with a screen pass on third-and-40.
It was the Bears’ most counterproductive possession of the game, but it was one of Trubisky’s best.
While he deserved the heat he took for going 26-for-45 for 228 yards with an interception — plus at least three incompletions that could have been picked — his teammates didn’t help as much as they should have. He also was missing one of his top targets in tight end Trey Burton.
The offensive line, ranked ninth in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, was particularly out of sync. Trubisky was under pressure much of the night and was sacked five times for 20 yards. The line committed four penalties, one of which was declined.
‘‘We talked about giving him time to let the guys on the outside work and let him be confident in his throwing,’’ left guard Cody Whitehair said. ‘‘I know I didn’t have my best game, so I have to be better. I was a big part of that.’’
Leno theorized the line might have gotten too hyped for the game and played recklessly rather than with precision.
‘‘Pressing,’’ he said. ‘‘When guys want it so bad, sometimes you have to let that go and take care of the simple things.
‘‘We need to take care of our basic fundamentals. I had my hands high, and that’s how we got those penalties. That sets the team back. If we take care of our basics, we know we can play way better.’’
The next step for Trubisky is learning how to adapt and play well even when problems flare up. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the benchmark for that. Despite the Bears’ defense overwhelming the Packers’ offensive line, Rodgers managed two scoring drives and a 91.4 passer rating.
Trubisky could be in a similar situation against the Broncos and seven-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Von Miller. The Broncos were eighth in the NFL in sacks and 11th in opponent passer rating last season. And their new coach is defensive mastermind Vic Fangio, who surely has a wealth of insight on how to attack the Bears.
The Bears, though, are eager for that matchup. They would be eager to face anybody, really, to move past the sting of last week. That’s especially true of the offensive line, which already had shifted out of the gloom of defeat.
‘‘Once that sun rises the next morning, it’s on to our next fight,’’ right guard Kyle Long said. ‘‘There’s a lot of great fighters in the world that have been dropped before. So if we can get up and do it again next time, we’ll be better for it.’’
