Despite loss, Bears QB Mitch Trubisky ‘in a good mental space’ heading into playoffs

A hot quarterback can carry a fringe playoff team far in the postseason.

Now all the Bears have to do is find one.

Mitch Trubisky and the Bears’ offense aren’t going into the playoffs on a roll. After building momentum and hope for the future with a four-week surge against the Lions, Texans, Vikings and Jaguars, Trubisky and the offense took a step up in class against the Packers and fizzled in the end.

They were good enough to put the Bears in position to beat the Packers — with three consecutive efficient drives after falling behind 21-10 in the second quarter. But they had to settle for field goals on the first two. And with the Bears trailing 21-16 and driving for the lead early in the fourth quarter, they faltered on a fourth-and-one at the Packers’ 25. With one last shot, Trubisky was intercepted by former Bears safety Adrian Amos near midfield.

While Trubisky still looked more like the new Mitch, his numbers resembled the old Mitch. He completed 33 of 42 passes for 252 yards with no touchdown passes and the one interception for an 81.7 passer rating. He rushed four times for 22 yards, including two sneaks for first downs.

Still, Trubisky is in the playoffs for the second time in three years, just with a lot of improvement against a top-10 defense to give the Bears a chance against the Saints. But despite the mediocre performance in the Bears’ 35-16 loss to the Packers on Sunday at Soldier Field, he’s still riding the wave of momentum from his late-season return.

“I feel good; I feel like I’m in a good mental space,” Trubisky said. “Obviously, I’d like to do some things differently [Sunday] to give us a better chance to win. I feel like I’ve gotten better over these last couple of weeks.”

Trubisky and coach Matt Nagy rued the fourth-and-one play at the Packers’ 25 with the Bears trailing 21-16 early in the fourth quarter. Trubisky rolled to his right and forced a throw to a well-covered Allen Robinson in the flat.

“For the most part, we were in a good position to compete toward the end; we just let it get out of hand,” Trubisky said. “That fourth-and-one was really the turning point for us. We [competed], but we’ve got to be able to finish games. A big part of that is my play. I’m confident in what we can do [in the playoffs].”

Trubisky provided some hope that the Bears’ offensive improvement isn’t a mirage. The Bears were good on their first possession — a 14-play, 60-yard workmanlike touchdown drive capped by David Montgomery’s two-yard run up the middle behind fullback J.P. Holtz. On fourth-and-three from the Packers’ 31, Trubisky hit Anthony Miller for a seven-yard gain and a first down.

And they were nearly as efficient on the opening drive of the third quarter, including a 53-yard bomb to Darnell Mooney — the Bears’ longest pass play of the season.

The Bears gained 356 yards, ran 74 offensive plays and won time of possession 35:29-24:31. But their 4.8 yards per play was a steep drop from the 6.1 average against the Lions, Texans, Vikings and Jaguars.

“The ball control part of it was good — staying on the field and converting first downs,” Trubisky said. “And where we can take it to the next level when you’re controlling the ball is not settling for field goals. When we get to the red zone, the most important thing for us is [scoring] a touchdown.”