Week 17 vs Green Bay is not the be all end all for QB Mitchell Trubisky. How he plays may define if he receives an extension, but it doesn’t need to be the top talking point. The play of a Bears quarterback being the focal point is very new to long time viewers and followers of the team. That fact is taking it way too far. The Bears declined Trubisky’s 5th year option from his rookie deal, due to the fact they haven’t gotten the play they wanted from the former #2 overall pick. That doesn’t mean they weren’t giving him a chance to prove himself and get an extension later on. Queue the sighs and eye rolls, but the QB market for 2021 isn’t exactly plentiful. Is Mitchell a top tier QB in the league? No. Is he in the bottom 5, also no. He is in the lower middle of the pack, which is where everyone should have expected him to be. The Bears don’t have cap space to sign a top tier QB right now, and won’t be high enough in the draft to nab a QB. So Mitchell signing an extension, wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Bears to do. I do not see them signing him past two more years, and doing that, they may have to move Nick Foles, which will be tough with the contract he has. Anyway, I am getting off topic…

The play of Trubisky is not what should be highlighted about this week’s game against Green Bay. It is going to be the running game and how the defense plays. Aaron Rodgers is arguably the smartest QB in the league right now. He can pick apart any defense he recognizes and make audibles with the best of them. It will help the Bears having Akiem Hicks back in the middle of the defensive line to put some pressure up the middle, but it is going to be up to Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Barkevious Mingo, and the combination of James Vaugthers and Trevis Gipson to get pressure on the edges. If Jaylon Johnson and Buster Skrine are inactive, it is going to be up to Kindle Vildor and Duke Shelley to shut down Davante Adams as they will keep him away from Kyle Fuller. It will also be up to Eddie Jackson and Tashuan Gipson to help over the top. Hopefully Sherrick McManis or Deon Bush is healthy enough to help the Nickel defense. If Chuck Pagano didn’t learn from the previous game against Green Bay, its going to be a long afternoon at Soldier Field. They have to hold off an early onslaught to make sure their offense can have a rhythm.

The other huge key to this game is the Bears running game. David Montgomery eclipsed 1,000 yards against Jacksonville and has been progressing each week in his decision making. Not to mention the offensive line being together for the 6th straight week should help. The Green Bay Packers allow 4.6 YPC on defense. Which ranks 22nd in the NFL, so the Bears need to execute their running game to open up play action and the passing game. The reason the Bears struggled against Green Bay is because they were down early and had to air it out much more often than they wanted. As long as the defense can hold early, the running game should be effective and open up the offense as it has the last 4 weeks. I expect Bill Lazor to dial up a lot of run plays early on, then the nakeds and bootlegs can start being used. Mike Pettine, the Green Bay defensive coordinator, will definitely be on notice for the play action. First he will have to get his run defense to stop the Bears running attack.

So again, its not all on Mitchell Trubisky to shine for the Bears to be victorious. He is auditioning for his future, not for this win. Barring a massive drop off of production, this should be enough to get him a new contract. The big question is, will he sign it?