Bears, Mitchell Trubisky can continue to grow from playoff letdown

Chicago’s first playoff appearance in eight years ended on an agonizing note when Cody Parkey’s tipped 43-yard, would-be game-winning field goal double doinked before falling harmlessly to the grass.

When the dust settles and people have a chance to process their immediate disappointment, Bears fans should feel encouraged by their team's season, and even several aspects of its playoff exit, as traumatic as it might have been.

There’s no question the defense lives up to the reputation of the great Bears legends over the years. This offseason, however, after months of reveling in perhaps swindling the Raiders, the team finally has to face the steep price it paid for Khalil Mack. There’s no question he’s been worth it, though sacrificing first-round picks in 2019 and 2020 will somewhat limit Chicago's ability to fill in emerging gaps around him.

Cornerback Bryce Callahan and safety Adrian Amos are bound for free agency, and though the Bears have about $20 million in cap space to play with, it remains to be seen whether they can fit re-signing those starters into their plans. What’s more, after years of being a high-profile defensive coordinator for multiple teams, it looks like it very well could be Vic Fangio’s time to get a head coaching gig in the NFL.  

So while there’s a risk of a slight regression on defense in 2019, things look promising for the Bears to become a more balanced team through an improving offense. After a so-so rookie season where he was asked to do as little as possible, Mitchell Trubisky started to flourish in his first season under head coach Matt Nagy.

Even in defeat, Trubisky shined against the Eagles. That sounds a little odd in a game where the Bears scored fewer than 20 points, but of the three quarterbacks who made their first postseason starts on wild-card weekend, Trubisky was the clear best and improved as his game went on. 

Parkey’s miss instantly became the story of the game, but had he hit that late kick, much of the focus would surely have fallen on the clutch throws Trubisky made in the second half, including the 25-yard strike he made to Allen Robinson to set up the attempt. The 45-yard pass to Robinson, who had his best game of the season, late in the third quarter set up a field goal. The Bears passer still has a bit to go until he’s someone who can win games on his own, but he’s a lot closer than he was at the outset of the season.

It’s a small thing that is likely to be overblown by those with opinions on what constitutes successful lifestyles, but it is interesting that, as Trubisky recently told ESPN, he quit social media this year and it had a beneficial effect on his mental health. Doubtlessly, this had at least something to do with some of his old off-color tweets resurfacing after he was drafted by the Bears. In general, though, there’s little reason for an NFL quarterback to be particularly active on Twitter. We shouldn’t be overly concerned with policing how athletes use their free time, but the discourse around pro sports online is often so toxic that there’s likely little to be gained from the athletes being actively engaged in it.

Trubisky’s continued maturation gives the franchise hope that this wasn’t another brief flash in the pan, which has been unfortunately common with the Bears since 2000. They can’t count on Green Bay and Minnesota having down years every season, but at the very least Chicago is in shape now to meet their division rivals with a strong A game when ready.