No Guarantees Mitchell Trubisky Keeps Scrambling
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Just because Mitchell Trubisky moved around and ran extensively in Thursday night's 31-24 win over Dallas doesn't mean it automatically will happen again.
Bears coach Matt Nagy on Friday said a great deal of the success moving Trubisky around in the offense resulted from the way Dallas' defensive front played. It doesn't necessarily mean other teams would present the same opportunity.
"They were a T-E type defensive line," Nagy said Friday at Halas Hall. "They do a lot of stunts."
This means defensive ends and tackles might flip in their rush, the tackles taking an outside track with the ends coming inside.
"So when that happens, you (the defense) can get out of whack a little bit, and you can create lanes for the quarterback," Nagy said. "When you (the QB) push vertical up into the pocket, you see nothing but green grass, you take off. And that's what he did a few times."
Trubisky had only 25 rushing attempts on the season before Thursday, and just 80 yards. He ran for 63 on 10 carries against the Cowboys and 23 came on a zone-read touchdown run, an option run.
It wasn't just the yardage gained by Trubisky but also being moved around in the pocket and outside of it in the passing game that made it work. So from that standpoint some of it was planned but the scrambles weren't.
"Again, I want to credit our offensive line, this is a big part of this," Nagy said. "So being able to change the line of scrimmage, have some misdirection in different spots, kind of keep them guessing, and then not be one-dimensional. We were able to change the line of scrimmage, create some movement-type throws, play-actions here or there."
So it would seem Trubisky's success was Dallas specific, and that they couldn't get him running around this way against some other opponents. Nagy had to hedge on this.
"I would say probably a little bit of both," Nagy said. "When you have a defensive line that plays a lot of games on the front line, that stunts, you're going to get more of that. Now, there are pros and cons to that.
"Trust me, they're not the only team that does that," Nagy said. "But he understands that his legs are a weapon.
"We don't want him to become a running back. We want him to be a quarterback that uses his legs, and I thought yesterday was a great example of that combination."
Trubisky tried not to emphasize the running much after the game, but did admit it helped. It's possible he's not trying to push a hot-topic button, that possibly the offense needed to be doing this all along and the coaches didn't do it until maybe it was too late.
"It keeps the defense honest," Trubisky said after the game. "They were just zoning us out for the most part. (I was) taking completions underneath, being patient, really being methodical as an offense. Offensive line did a great job of just giving me time.
"When nothing is there, pulling it down, getting what I can, playing smart and playing good football."
The whole issue of Trubisky and having the offense fitted to him has been an issue apparently, and Nagy sees the last few games as a breakthrough.
"There’s been a lot of great conversations," Nagy said. "Some highs, some lows, some real talk, some honesty, pure communication, humility, all that through us, and understand that we're in this thing together."
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