Watson, Mahomes Play Different Sport Than Trubisky
When you go back and think about Mitchell Trubisky and playoff combatants Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, it's almost hard to believe Bears general manager Ryan Pace actually believes what he said at his season-ending press conference.
In explaining how Watson and Mahomes can be where they are and where Trubisky is in development, Pace said: "I think it's understanding they're all different. Case by case, different backgrounds, scenarios, to situations they're in. I think you have to recognize that."
He's right about that. They are different.
Watson and Mahomes have obvious talent and produced. The Bears keep poking and prodding and squeezing Trubisky, and trying to turn over the ignition and pump the gas. So far it's a dead battery.
"A lot of factors in play we can talk about, but I think you know, especially with a young quarterback, in a lot of cases it's never going to be a straight line, never going to be linear, there's going to be ups and downs," Pace said.
In the case of Watson and Mahomes, there are some small downs and huge ups. In Trubisky's case, it's more of a flat line at the bottom of the page.
Statistically, it's virtually irrelevant to compare the three.
Watson is 24-13 in 37 starts and two playoff games going into Sunday's game and Mahomes 24-7 in 31 starts with three playoffs. Trubisky is 23-18 with one playoff game. Those are the best statistics Trubisky has, compared to the other two.
Mahomes has a full season less as a starter than Trubisky and 28 more touchdown passes with a 6.9 TD pass percentage. Trubisky has 48 TDs and a 3.8 TD percentage. Watson is only five TD passes short of Mahomes (71) and has a 5.9 TD percentage.
The interception numbers of Watson and Trubisky are the same, 29 each, while Mahomes is at 18. But the biggest differences come in their abilities to get the ball downfield compared to Trubisky's inability, and their passer efficiency compared to Trubisky's.
Watson averages 8.1 yards an attempt and Mahomes 8.6. A good yards per attempt is around 7.5 to 8.0. Trubisky is at 6.7.
Watson has a career passer efficiency rating of 101, Mahomes 108.9 and Trubisky 85.8.
Even if you take into account how players can develop at different rates, that's three seasons for Trubisky and nothing much to show for it.
"It's not all one person," Pace said. "I know everybody wants to make one person the villain. It's not all just one person's fault. There's a number of factors in play here we got to sort through."
It is true the Bears have struggled with their running game, but Trubisky keeps getting more chances than the other two because his defense has been so dominant. Even this year when they were ravaged by key injuries, the defense kept the Bears in games and Trubisky failed to produce.
The other two quarterbacks didn't play in a vacuum, either.
Mahomes hasn't had a decent running back to give the ball to this year. The Chiefs had no one over 500 yards rushing. Their defense was awful last year and didn't solidify until midway through this season. The Texans' pass blocking has been forever porous. Watson got sacked 62 times one year and 125 total. Some has to do with holding the ball too long, but that kind of blocking will eventually land him where it got another Texans quarterback. Remember David Carr and the 249 sacks he took in five years?
The Bears keep saying they see signs of Trubisky's development. There's no reason to sort through results for signs with the other two. It hits you right in the fac
Nagy pointed to a decision Trubisky made to dump off the ball instead of take an open touchdown early in the year and then a decision he made to throw to the sideline for a first down and ice a meaningless game against Minnesota. He called it progress. If it is there, he's using a microscope with the power no one outside of Halas Hall has to find it.
"You see games this year, you see him responding to adverse situations within a game," Pace insists. "Those are signs of positive improvement. We just need to smooth out those inconsistencies."
There's nothing to smooth out on Watson and Mahomes as they keep ascending.
It's right there for everyone to see when they play against each other. And it's going to be there for Bears fans to see throughout their careers because both are 24 years old.
It's all right there, just like it was for the Bears when they could have taken either Mahomes or Watson.
Twitter@BearsOnMaven
