Five weeks after Matt Nagy benched Mitch Trubisky, the Bears still are waiting for the Nick Foles bump.
The veteran Foles provided an immediate boost when he replaced Trubisky early in the third quarter against the Falcons on Sept. 27. He threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to rally the Bears from a 26-10 deficit to a thrilling 30-26 victory that improved the Bears to 3-0.
But in five games as the starter, Foles has been unable to boost the Bears’ offense to a new level. The Bears’ offense has scored 11, 20, 23, 3 and 23 points for an average of 16.0.
The 23 points against the Saints in a 26-23 overtime loss on Sunday looks good on paper, but it’s tied for the fewest points the Saints have allowed this season — and below their average of 28.1 points allowed per game. The Chargers, with rookie quarterback Justin Herbert throwing four touchdown passes, scored 27 points against the Saints.
Foles has a passer rating of 78.1 in his five starts (five touchdowns, six interceptions). Trubisky had an 87.4 passer rating in his three starts (six touchdowns, three interceptions).
What’s the deal with that?
“I would go to the entire offense. There are 11 people involved,” coach Matt Nagy explained Monday. “And then there’s coaching involved as well.”
Nagy hinted that the supporting cast has impacted the effectiveness of both quarterbacks. “We know what we see on tape, I’ll say that,” Nagy said. “And we’re able to evaluate what we see. And that’s our job, to watch what we see as coaches on tape and then we evaluate what we see and make judgments off that.”
Foles’ inability to boost the Bears offense has been a disappointment, but not a stunning development. He’s had his own hurdles to overcome. To wit:
- Foles has faced a higher degree of difficulty. He has played against three defenses that rank in the top-10 in yards allowed and points allowed: the Colts (third in yards, fifth in points), the Buccaneers (first and seventh) and Rams (second and fourth). The Panthers (15th and 13th) are in the upper half. Even the Saints, though they’re allowing 28.1 points per game, are eighth in total defense.
Trubisky, on the other hand, faced the Lions (22nd in yards, 26th in points), Giants (13th and 14th) and Falcons (28th and 22nd). Against the one team both quarterbacks played against — the Falcons — Trubisky had a 71.8 rating; Foles had a 95.2 rating, and the win.
- The offensive line has broken down under Foles. The Bears’ starting five offensive linemen played through the first three games — left tackle Charles Leno, left guard James Daniels, center Cody Whitehair, right guard Germaine Ifedi and right tackle Bobby Massie.
But since Foles took over, Daniels suffered a season-ending torn pectoral muscle against the Buccaneers; Whitehair suffered a calf injury against the Rams; and Massie suffered a knee injury in the first quarter against the Saints.
The Bears actually ran the ball better than they have since Foles took over — 96 rushing yards on 23 carries (4.2 avg.). But they paid a price in protection. Foles was sacked five times, including twice on the Bears’ lone overtime possession. So injuries have exposed the most obvious downgrade in the quarterback switch — Foles’ limited mobility and escapability — though Nagy said only the final sack in overtime was on Foles for not getting rid of the ball.
“That’s just where we’re at. We understand that,” Nagy said. “We have to be able to have honest evaluations through all that. We had some luxury early in the season with consistency on the offensive line and now. It’s new pieces, new voices. Guys are battling through stuff. We have to make sure we look at the whole big picture with this.”
Presumably, Nagy is hoping the line settles in once Whitehair returns and Coward gets acclimated to left guard. And when the Bears aren’t playing top-10 defenses, Foles will have a better chance to get in a groove. Once the playing field is a little more level, the evaluation of Foles figures to be a little more critical.
