Mitchell Trubisky was the talk of the town after his Week 1 performance, and not in a good way.
The Chicago Bears quarterback completed just 26 of his 45 passes for 228 yards and what ended up representing a game-sealing interception in an anemic 10-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Now, Bears fans are looking for answers.
Was it the lack of preseason action? Has Trubisky not improved since last year? Is he a bust?
You know, the typical Monday Morning Quarterback (or, in Trubisky's case, Friday Morning Quarterback, because the Bears played on Thursday) reactions whenever a player has one bad game.
It's generally pretty ridiculous, but given Trubisky's ups and downs since being drafted second overall back in 2017 and considering Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were on the board at the time of the pick, Trubisky's Week 1 outing is slightly concerning.
Of course, credit has to be given to the improved Packers defense, but Trubisky just looked flat out awful. Things aren't about to get any easier as he gets set to battle a fierce Denver Broncos defense this Sunday.
It should be noted that the Broncos allowed Derek Carr to go 22-for-26 in a loss to the Oakland Raiders on Monday night, but this is still a Broncos defense that features names such as Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and Chris Harris, so Trubisky will have his hands full.
Not only that, but the game is on the road, which further complicates matters for the Bears.
Make no mistake about it: Chicago really needs this game. This is a preseason Super Bowl contender we are talking about here, so the Bears absolutely cannot afford to fall into an 0-2 hole, especially in an NFC North division that includes Green Bay and the Minnesota Vikings.
But it seems hard to imagine that Trubisky will be a driving force in a potential Bears win this weekend.
He'll get a bit of a respite in two weeks when Chicago battles the Washington Redskins, but in Week 2, he will get no such break. Denver's defense is every bit as good as the Packers' unit, and probably better.
For that reason, expect the Bears to run the football more in this one. Chicago running backs totaled just 11 carries in Week 1, and Tarik Cohen didn't rush the ball once.
That will almost certainly change this week, as the Bears have to know they can't put the game in Trubisky's hands against Denver.
It's hard to imagine Trubisky throwing 45 passes again unless Chicago falls behind big early, and that shouldn't happen, either. The Bears' defense is just too good to get blown out.
Chicago will more than likely be a bit more tame with Trubisky this time around and will probably keep him around 30-35 throws, with many of those throws coming on short and intermediate routes to Cohen and potentially tight end Trey Burton if he is able to get back after missing Week 1.
Trubisky might put up big numbers at some point this season, but it's doubtful that it will be against the Broncos this weekend.
Expect a healthy dose of Mike Davis, David Montgomery and Cohen, and a tame performance overall for Trubisky. Hopefully, he can simply avoid turning the ball over.
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