True, but would you say the Bears struggles with running are really on Trubisky? If your own eyes didn’t convince you that the blocking was appalling, just look at the offensive line stats that G08 supplied above. We can blame the QB for many things, but surely he can’t be held responsible for the flat out ineptitude of his linemen and/or the blocking scheme?Middleguard wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 8:00 pm Or, looking at those stats, if Nagy and his new coaching crew can sort out Trubisky's anemic passer rating, then the chance of seeing a big improvement in in the running game should similarly increase.
Also, consider this. There were 10 teams that averaged 4 ypc or less this season. The Dolphins had a new starting QB in Fitzpatrick, the Steelers lost Roethlisberger and ran with Rudolph and Hodges who were both playing for the first time, and the Jets had Darnold in his second year.
Here are the others that had a settled QB situation and how their stats from last season compared to this season:
Chicago Bears - Mitch Trubisky
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 4.1/3.7
Quarterback Passer Rating: 95.4/83.0
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 10%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 13.0%
Los Angeles Rams - Jared Goff
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 4.9/3.7
Quarterback Passer Rating: 101.1/86.5
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 24%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 14.0%
Tampa Bay Buccanneers - Jameis Winston
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 3.9/3.7
Quarterback Passer Rating: 90.2/84.3
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 7%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 5%
Atlanta Falcons - Matt Ryan
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 4.5/3.8
Quarterback Passer Rating: 108.1/92.1
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 15%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 17%
New England Patriots - Tom Brady
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 4.3/3.8
Quarterback Passer Rating: 97.7/88.0
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 12%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 10%
Cincinatti Bengals - Andy Dalton
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 4.7/3.9
Quarterback Passer Rating: 89.6/78.3
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 17%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 13%
Los Angeles Chargers - Philip Rivers
2018/2019
Team Rushing Average (ypc): 4.7/4.0
Quarterback Passer Rating: 105.5/88.5
Team Rushing Average (ypc): Down 15%
Quarterback Passer Rating: Down 16%
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a future hall of famer like Brady and Rivers, a former NFL MVP like Matt Ryan, an NFC championship winner like Goff or a below average starter like Dalton or Winston, if your team’s average rushing yards per carry fell this season then your passer rating fell by broadly the same percentage. It should therefore be no surprise that the same is true of Trubisky.
With the calibre of some of the QBs on this list, can we really argue that the rushing issue is due to poor quarterback play rather than a poor running game?