Better late than never: Bears’ offense finally finding its groove

Bears coach Matt Nagy has faced critical questions about his offense all season — Mitch Trubisky’s regression; the underperforming offensive line; Trubisky’s disappearing threat as a runner; withering production from the tight ends; and the upgrade at running back that hasn’t happened.

And then when it finally all comes to fruition, instead of basking in the glory of a 31-24 victory over the first-place Cowboys on Thursday night at Soldier Field, Nagy faced a painfully obvious question in the aftermath: Where has that been all season?

It’s a fair question because the Bears were supposed to hit the ground running on offense this season. Virtually every key piece returned from last year’s developmental first season under Nagy — with running back Jordan Howard being replaced by rookie David Montgomery in a touted upgrade.

But after stumbling from the first week of training camp, the offense finally seems to have found a groove in Week 14, with several key players on the sideline: tight ends Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen, guard Kyle Long and right tackle Bobby Massie. This isn’t how Nagy drew it up, but he’s not about to lament the delay, just appreciate the progress and keep moving forward.

“Every year’s a little bit different — personnel-wise, schematically, what teams see with you and how you adjust to that,” Nagy said when asked about the late-arriving offense. “But the good thing is, here we are at this part of the season … we are feeling like we’re finally getting to that identity that we like. Whatever that is, that’s not our job to get into the details of that. But we’re confident right now. Confidence is a huge factor in this thing.”

The offense still has a lot to prove, but after a season of promise and then hope, Nagy’s confidence about his offense’s confidence carries a little more weight now. When Trubisky threw three touchdown passes against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, it was against a 29th-ranked defense that played into Trubisky’s hands. But Thursday night’s offensive outburst came against a Cowboys defense ranked ninth in yards allowed per play — albeit against a weak schedule.

The Bears gained 5.7 yards per play against a defense that allowed 5.2 yards per play — ninth in the NFL. They converted 7-of-12 third downs (58 percent) against a defense that came allowing 32.5 percent of third-down conversions — third best in the league. Trubisky’s 115.5 passer rating is the second highest against the Cowboys this season — better than the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (85.2) and the Patriots’ Tom Brady (70.8).

Nagy has insisted all season that Trubisky’s issues are part of an overall offensive malaise. It was no surprise, then, that Trubisky’s standout game against the Cowboys — arguably his best in three seasons as a Bear — was a byproduct of everything coming together. It supports the notion that Trubisky isn’t a quarterback who can put the offense on his shoulders, but one who can perform at a high level with proper support.

Here’s a look at the key elements of that;

Trubisky’s running

Trubisky’s ability to scramble for key yards was a weapon last year when he rushed for 421 yards (6.2 avg.) and three touchdowns. But he had only rushed for 80 yards on 26 carries this season (3.1 avg.) through 12 games.

But Trubisky was aggressively in 2018 form against the Cowboys. He scrambled five yards for a first down on the second play from scrimmage and for 13 yards later in that opening drive. He finished with a season-high 63 yards on 10 carries, including a 23-yard touchdown on a perfectly executed read-option play.

The Cowboys defense has been vulnerable to running quarterbacks, with the Giants’ Daniel Jones (6-54), the Lions’ Jeff Driskel (8-51, one touchdown) and the Bills Josh Allen (10-43, one touchdown) all rushing for 40 or more yards prior to Trubisky. It still comes down to Trubisky picking his spots.

“He understands that his legs are a weapon,” Nagy said. “We don’t want him to become a running back. We want him to be a quarterback that uses his legs. I thought [Thursday night] was a great example of that combination.”

The offensive line

Arguably the most disappointing aspect of the offense, including Trubisky, the Bears’ offensive line has improved steadily since center James Daniels and left guard Cody Whitehair switched positions in Week 10 against the Lions.

With Rashaad Coward replacing Long and Cornelius Lucas playing for injured starter Bobby Massie, the line has played well in back-to-back games. But it’s still a work-in-progress.

“You’re starting to feel a jelling of them,” Nagy said, “understanding conceptually what we’re doing — a trust among them. It’s just saying, ‘Ok, here we go.’ We know we can be better and they’re proving it.”

The tight ends

Nagy seemed to give up on the idea of using tight ends in the pass game after injuries to Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen and Ben Braunecker left the Bears with Jesper Horsted, J.P. Holtz and former offensive lineman Bradley Sowell as the active tight ends.

But even that changed against the Cowboys. Holtz had three catches for 56 yards, including a 30-yard gain on a screen. Horsted added four catches for 36 yards. That’s modest production, but in an offense dependent on productive tight ends, it made a big difference. Nagy seemed to rediscover that against the Cowboys.

“It’s probably a little bit of just the unknown — not knowing what you had with the other guys,” Nagy said. “You had Jesper, who we didn’t know anything about. And then J.P. Holtz, who comes in [during Week 3]. I think now we’re kind of getting an idea what their strengths and weaknesses are and we’re trying to feed off their strengths.”