Sports dynasties usually are enshrined to history by lengthy runs of success cumulating in championships. In the warped world of the Chicago Bears,, dynasties are noted by certain trendy attempts to get out of their post-1985 rut.
The Mitchell Trubisky quarterback dynasty began in 2018 and will end in early 2024, or perhaps latter 2023. Two quarterbacks ruled the dynasty, Mitchell Trubisky I (Mitch Trubisky The First Rounder) and Mitchell Trubisky II (Justin Fields The Puddle Glider, pictured above). They were athletic and agile running quarterbacks, prone to flashes of the spectacular, but fell in tragedy for nearly always looking for the big play, inability to read defenses, and almost never seeing the open receiver. Their natural tendency to want to run with the ball instead of pass inevitably led to prolonged injuries.
The dynasty’s quarterbacks’ yearning for the big play was on display two weeks ago when Fields dislocated his thumb. Instead of following normal quarterback instincts to tuck ball, take the sack, and minimize his own risk for injury, The Puddle Glider attempted a futile sideways pass, landing on and injuring his thumb, fulfilling another trait of the Trubisky Dynasty.
Prophets and heralds generally have small purpose to a story outside of their explicit role. Tyson Bagent is not the beginning of another dynasty but instead the “negative proof” that the Trubisky Dynasty is about to come to an end. The past three years have been attempts at “positive proof” that Justin Fields is the guy for the Chicago Bears, a winding narrative with its highs and lows. But in one game, a meager undrafted quarterback from an unknown Division II college provided Bears fandom with the singular negative proof that this dynasty in general and Fields in particular is not the path forward.
Reading though some Internet chatter, I am guessing nearly all Bears fans who watched Bagent’s premiere start against the Las Vegas Raiders, as I did, felt something they had not in a very long time – giddy excitement. Not because Bagent is going to be the next Tom Brady, but because a veil had been lifted. They saw something absent for at least three years. Quick, decisive plays, for better or worse, from the quarterback seemed to make the Bears offense simply gel. You could sense through the television the offense was actually enjoying the execution of plays, finally. “This is what I signed up for,” I am guessing went through some of their heads. For a brief moment, the Chicago Bears offense looked like a legitimate modern football group. From the team to fans, I know everyone felt it.
The few good victories of the Fields era elicited academic, got giddy, excitement. You were glad the Bears scored, played well, etc., not because it was emotional but because it was expected from this team after all the hype.
“Well the Raiders defense was bad,” may be a retort, but that does not matter. The whole point is to be better than your opposition, and the Bears certainly were for that one game. An undrafted quarterback led an NFL team to victory over another NFL team, how can you take anything away from that accomplishment?
The Trubisky Dynasty and Fields era is ending not because Fields failed, but because we now see what Fields is not. The irony is that Bagent’s rapid and confident play execution puts Fields in a mobility category with Dan Marino. It revealed that a core deficiency in the play of Fields is his inability to drop back fast and make the needed decision, quickly, without defaulting to running the ball.
As wrote in my prior Bears article, I think Fields would have a better chance of success elsewhere. I also stated that most NFL success is due to organization. Other teams have proven a running quarterback can be successful and certainly Fields could be as well on the right team. But that team is not Chicago’s, who likely, hopefully, will search for a far different 2024 quarterback, one that resembles Bagent more than Fields.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article.
