Chicago Bears: Why Vikings game is meaningless for Mitch Trubisky

The Chicago Bears take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in what is a meaningless game for their quarterback.

As the Chicago Bears cruise into the offseason on the wings of another disappointing season, they finish up with the Minnesota Vikings for the second straight year. Last season, the Bears bounced the Vikings out of the playoffs, even though they had nothing to play for. This season, the Vikings are in the playoffs and welcome a team that is a shell of its 2018-self.

Once the game ends, it will officially mark the beginning of the most important season of the Ryan Pace era, as he will have to make a decision on the future of Mitchell Trubisky, the quarterback he drafted to be the face of the franchise.

But that can wait for the moment, as Sunday’s game should have absolutely no impact on his decision. Notice I said “should” since it’s impossible to know for sure, but realistically, it shouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

This Vikings game is the equivalent of stepping onto the 18th tee-box 22 over par. If Trubisky, who has been “all over the course” so to speak, this season, then it’s just more of the same, and should not be assigned any more weight than any of his other clunkers over the course of his career.

But what if spins it all day and puts up monster numbers? In other words, what happens if he bombs it right down the middle of the fairway? Candidly, we’ve all been there. We’ve had an up-and-down round only to hit that shot on 18 that was so pure, it makes you come back out the following weekend.

It’s the kind of shot that makes us focus on the birdie on seven, or the back-to-back pars immediately after the turn. However, that shouldn’t overshadow the multiple double-bogies, or the time you simply told your partner to just put you down for a double-par.

And to continue this golfing metaphor, as Trubisky approaches the 18th tee, he’s going to notice the tee-box has been moved up 50-yards, as the Vikings are likely to rest a majority of their key players, having already locked up a playoff spot. Now that long par-5 is reachable in two.

None of this is meant to pile-on Trubisky or put him in a “no-win” situation. It’s really just meant to suggest that this is one game against a bunch of reserves, and it should be evaluated accordingly. The decision on Mitch Trubisky should be on his entire resume, and this one game, good or bad, shouldn’t impact that decision.