How to explain Bears’ journey from 12-4 to awful? Two words: Mitch Trubisky

The quarterback is one step from being a third-string, clipboard-holding, suitcase-toting backup somewhere other than Chicago.

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Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, right, throws a pass in an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Nov. 17 2019, in Los Angeles.   

Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, right, throws a pass in an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Nov. 17 2019, in Los Angeles.

Kyusung Gong/AP

When you walk toward the field through one of the tunnels in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the roar of the crowd grows steadily as the small rectangle of color expands in front of you.

You move slowly down one of the claustrophobic concrete tubes until you pop into the stadium itself.

If a lion and a clot of Christians were on the field below, hacking away at each other, it would halfway make sense.

Indeed, this stadium is so much like the ancient one in Rome (yes, I’ve visited it) that the emperor Flavius would feel at home.

And if he had seen the Bears-Rams game Sunday, he would have pointed to the Bears’ bench, to coach Matt Nagy and his minions, reached out his right arm and made the thumbs-down signal.

Forget chains, short swords and howling beasts. This Bears team stinks — in so many ways.

What happened? Nobody knows for sure.

Can a human roadblock named Akiem Hicks make that much difference? One missing defensive lineman has turned outside linebacker and highest-paid-defender-in-the-world Khalil Mack into a token? Wow, Mr. Hicks, get your agent and renegotiate!

And who knew kicking field goals inside 50 yards on a perfect, wind-free autumn night of about, mmm, 80 degrees was professionally impossible? As winter arrives, it’s likely the Bears will punt from everywhere outside the red zone. Start the 18-yard wedge shots, Pat O’Donnell!

But these failings are nothing compared to whatever it is the Bears are doing on offense.

It is stunning to think Nagy went from offensive guru and Coach of the Year to this abyss so swiftly. Sidekick and mystified pupil Mitch Trubisky is one step from being a third-string, clipboard-holding, suitcase-toting backup somewhere other than Chicago.

It’s not that Trubisky does so much badly; it’s that he doesn’t do much well. Quarterbacks have to be difference-makers, not placeholders. Tru is in the driver’s seat, and his windshield is smeared with splattered bugs and bird doo-doo.

It was telling that when he was removed near the end of the game for extreme backup Chase Daniel, most people in the Coliseum assumed it was because Tru stunk. Only later did we find out he had a hip injury.

Each time Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers or even Dak Prescott (444 yards Sunday against the Lions) passes for 300 yards or so, we wonder why everything looks so difficult for the Bears’ offense.

Yes, the receivers drop the ball and the O-line is shaky. But here’s one observation from high up in the press box Sunday: On third downs, Trubisky unravels. The Bears were a pitiful 6-for-17 on third-down conversions, and Trubisky generally didn’t pick up the hot reads and scramble lanes fast enough.

He made some solid throws during the game, and arm strength doesn’t seem to be the issue here. But magic does. And Tru’s mojo says run-of-the-mill. If that.

Nagy sends in dumb plays, you say? But how good might those plays look if the quarterback extended them or if the running game really kept the defense on its heels because opponents feared Trubisky’s skills?

The Rams next play the Ravens, who have 22-year-old quarterback Lamar Jackson leading the way. Jackson has more rushing touchdowns (six) than interceptions (five), and he threw for four touchdowns and rushed for 86 yards on nine carries in a 41-7 victory Sunday against the Texans.

‘‘The guys around him have a confidence because of his swagger and confidence,’’ Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday.

That’s not the case with the Bears. The only confidence Trubisky seems to exude is one that says this can’t go on. And it can’t go on.

Bears general manager Ryan Pace sat in the press box Sunday and quietly watched the ineptitude against the Rams. You could say his reputation and, perhaps, his employment were tilting in the crux.

You see, the Bears went all-in on Trubisky. And they could have had Mahomes. Or they could have waited a year and gone after Jackson.

Somehow, they went 12-4 last season. But regression is all around. They’ve had 30 starters at quarterback in the last 28 years. Are you ready for one more?

You better be.

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