Couch: Football gods use Mitch Trubisky to torture Chicago Bears fans and new QB Justin Fields



I don't mean to be a pessimist about Justin Fields, the new Chicago Bears quarterback. I consider myself a public servant by pointing out that I don't believe in him, that he hasn't done a thing to earn the crazy belief and love Chicagoans already have for him.

I'm worried about the mental health of my fellow Chicagoans. They can't stomach another failed QB.

I pointed this out last week, too, but that wasn't good enough. After the second preseason game in the Fields era Saturday, the sickness only got worse. Bears fans completely lost their minds.

The football gods are always laughing at the Bears' QB setup, trying to come up with new ways to amuse themselves. On Saturday, the gods were on their game even if Fields wasn't on his.

The appeal of Fields, who was already the No. 2 selling NFL jersey before his first preseason game, is not who he is, but who he isn't. He isn't Mitch Trubisky, Fields' predecessor as great Chicago QB nope.

After four years of Trubisky, the Bears dumped him, picked up Andy Dalton from the Dallas Cowboys, and quickly pronounced him QB1. Then Fields fell to the Bears in the draft.

Put all of that together, and here's what happened Saturday when the Buffalo Bills crushed the Bears: Dalton started, but Bears fans were chanting for Fields. Coach Matt Nagy has said that Dalton is the starter and won't be judged until he plays regular-season games.

Fans of the worst quarterback franchise in NFL history don't want to have anything to do with their starting quarterback. They just want Fields. Nagy will cave soon enough.

After Fields' first preseason game, he said he was surprised the NFL seemed slow. Was he really already OK with the speed of the league? On Saturday, he was hit so hard that he lost his helmet. He was sacked twice and couldn't get out of the way. He mixed in some effective scrambles and a perfect leading 30-yard pass to tight end Jesse James. That was enough to make Bears fans happy, even though he completed just 9 of 19 passes for 80 yards and a 59.1 passer rating.

WAKE UP, Chicago.

And the ultimate irony: Guess who was quarterbacking Buffalo to four straight touchdown drives and 28 points by the middle of the second quarter.

Yes, Trubisky. Of all people. It was the football gods spiking the ball in Bears fans' faces.

Four years ago, Trubisky, much like Fields, also had an excellent first preseason game with the Bears. He completed his first 10 passes and ended with a 103.1 passer rating. Afterward, as the Chicago Sun-Times reminded us the other day, this is what NFL analyst Mark Schlereth said:

"You can see great poise. You can see a guy who was in control. You can see a guy that – even when they had these half-field reads and they ran a lot of boot-keeps and those things – man, he understood the progression."

Four years later, you couldn't see any of those things.

After Trubisky burned the Bears Saturday, I sarcastically tweeted that I wish the Bears could get a quarterback like the guy the Bills have. Then, @indybill23 tweeted back: "I mean, they probably could, but they'd have no idea how to develop him."

That brought up a great question: Is the Bears' problem the failure to identify a QB or to develop one? I think it's more about ID'ing one, as their high draft picks have left Chicago and continued to fail. That said, they never improved in Chicago, either.

One quarterback after another has paraded through Chicago for three-quarters of a century since Sid Luckman won four NFL titles and ushered in the T-formation.

He left in 1950, though. Joe Biden was 8 at the time.

Every Bears quarterback has failed since then. You'd think Chicagoans would be well prepared for this.

Instead, they are like a homeowner in Florida hurricane country with nothing to protect their windows from being smashed in. At some point, don't you know what's coming? Shouldn't you be prepared?

So like I said, the appeal of Fields is that he's not Trubisky. Chicago loved Trubisky because he wasn't Jay Cutler. Cutler wasn't Rex Grossman, who wasn't Kordell Stewart, who wasn't Cade McNown.

It's Fields' turn now. And somehow Chicagoans are sold. It's not healthy for them. I fear that three or four years from now, the Bears will get their next QB: Not Justin Fields.

Couch: It’s way too early to believe Justin Fields can change Chicago’s sorry quarterback history



Years after he retired, Charles M. Schulz, the legendary "Peanuts" cartoonist, explained why he never let Charlie Brown kick the football Lucy held: "You can't create humor out of happiness."

Maybe that explains why the Bears' quarterback predicament is the longest-running joke in professional football. It certainly explains why I see rookie Justin Fields as Chicago's next punch line.

I'm not falling for the same old trick, the gimmick that leaves Chicago Bears fans – including me – in tears every fall.

To be a Bears fan is to promise yourself that you absolutely, positively will never be duped again by the hope of a new quarterback. And after that, it's to immediately fall in love with Jay Cutler. Or Mitch Trubisky. Or Cade McNown. Or Rex Grossman.

Or Kordell Stewart. Erik Kramer. Mike Glennon.

I could go on. And on.

I'm not buying into Justin Fields, the rookie quarterback who is already the talk of Chicago, not to mention the NFL. It's just too risky.

Before Fields took even one snap in his first preseason game, his jersey was already among a handful of the best-sellers in the NFL. In June, NFLShop.com reported that Fields' jersey was the No. 2 best-seller, ahead of Tom Brady. Ahead of Aaron Rodgers. Ahead of Patrick Mahomes. Behind only Tim Tebow, who has at least accomplished something in the NFL.

Meanwhile, at my local grocery store outside Chicago, there are 13 Trubisky jerseys on a clearance rack. Trubisky was the most recent great QB hope, as the Bears traded on draft day four years ago so they could move up to pick him. They selected him over Mahomes.

Chicagoans have bought into Fields. On Saturday, he was very good against the Miami Dolphins in the preseason opener. The Bears scored 17 points on his final four possessions. He completed passes, bounced away when it looked like he was going to be sacked, and ran in for a touchdown.

He is what Chicago wants most of all. This has been a city of superstars and the world's best and tallest. It had the greatest basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan, the greatest linebacker in Dick Butkus, and among the greatest in Bobby Hull, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Ernie Banks. The city used to define itself by those stars more than by victories themselves.

It had what was once the tallest building (Sears Tower), the busiest airport (O'Hare), the coolest mobster (Al Capone).

Chicago takes pride in these things, but many of the all-time greats are gone or surpassed now. Even Oprah left.

Through it all, though, Chicago never got what it wants most of all: A quarterback for the Bears.

The most failed position in American sports history is quarterback for the Bears. Sid Luckman won four championships in the role. He retired in 1950. The Bears haven't had an accurate deep passer since then.

In the mid-1980s, they did have Jim McMahon for a few years, and with him, Payton, and the greatest defense of all time, the Bears managed one measly Super Bowl. McMahon kept getting hurt.

Then the Bears had hope with Mike Tomczak, who bombed out. And Jim Harbaugh, who flopped too.

Fields is selling jerseys, but he's only on spec. And while Bears fans can't believe their luck in having him, they forget that he wasn't their first choice.

When Deshaun Watson said he wanted out of Houston, Chicago spent weeks excitedly daydreaming and filling talk radio with thoughts of getting him. That didn't work out. Then Russell Wilson listed the Bears as a team he'd be interested in leaving Seattle for.

Fields was actually the third person the Bears asked to the prom. But since Chicago is the black hole for quarterbacks, the city has gotten excited about anyone who would say yes.

It's not all about karma, either.

Mostly, the Bears, from one coaching staff or general manager to the next, can't spot QB talent. Cutler did have a revolving door of coordinators and coaches, in addition to a lack of desire. Trubisky seemed to have claustrophobia in the pocket. The offensive line is usually terrible.

The Bears, without a legitimate left tackle to protect Fields, signed Jason Peters out of a presumed retirement this week. He's a nine-time Pro Bowler. He's also 39 years old.

Meanwhile, the hated Green Bay Packers have had Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers since 1992. And now Chicago excitedly looks at its future with Fields while the Packers are likely stuck after this year with lowly Jordan Love.

Bears fans think their luck has finally turned. I'm not buying. The football gods won't find that funny at all.

Uber Eats Drops Former Quarterback Jay Cutler From Ad Because He Questioned Masking Kids

Uber canceled its offer to Jay Cutler to participate in an advertisement due to the former QB's failure to walk the PC line on COVID-19 masking.

WATCH: Jamie Collins Tossed After Head-Butting Referee

Linebacker Jamie Collins was tossed from his first game with the Detroit Lions on Sunday, after giving a referee a bizarre, slow-motion head butt.

Dozens of Players and Staff from Bears, Lions Protest During Anthem

As their game began Sunday, both the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions protested against the country during the national anthem. Though, neither team took a unified approach.

Chicago Bears disavow Brian Urlacher after his controversial post on NBA protests, Jacob Blake shooting



The Chicago Bears denounced former Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher for his stance against the recent NBA protests, which were spurred on by the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

A Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer shot Blake in the back seven times on Sunday following a call for a domestic disturbance.

What are the details?

Urlacher, who played 13 seasons with the Bears from 2000-12 and earned eight Pro Bowl selections, on Thursday wrote, "Brett Favre played the (Monday Night Football) game the day his dad died, threw 4 TDs in the first half, and was a legend for playing in the face of adversity. NBA players boycott the playoffs because a dude reaching for a knife, wanted on a felony sexual assault warrant, was shot by police."

Some commentary here from Brian Urlacher, who is part of a group hoping to buy the Mets, which is led by Jennifer L… https://t.co/irw5LwmUPn
— Marc Carig (@Marc Carig)1598552701.0

In a statement to NBC Sports, the team said, "The social media posts in no way reflect the values or opinions of the Chicago Bears organization."

The team also canceled a Thursday practice in a statement, pointing to Blake's shooting.

"In the wake of what has taken place in our backyard of Kenosha over the last couple of days, we as a team have a lot on our mind today," the statement said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "We decided to pause our football activities to voice to each other, our coaches and our staff where we stand on the real issues around race and police brutality in our country.

"We had a productive discussion, but we all agreed that talks and discussions are simply not enough anymore and we need action," the lengthy statement concluded. "We are putting in plans to take action in our communities, and together we believe we can make a real difference. We need action not only today but in the days to come."

What else?

Matt Forte, one of Urlacher's former teammates, shared similar sentiments on Twitter, writing, "The comment [Urlacher] posted is void of empathy, compassion, wisdom and coherence. But full of pride and ignorance! I pray for those who have been blinded by their wealth, privilege and earthly fame that breeds arrogance in their hearts. And those who refuse to acknowledge racism and injustice, but instead choose to place their energy into justifying it by quickly judging the victims [sic] life as if they themselves are more valuable because their sins are different or weren't caught by man... but God sees all."

Acknowledge racism and injustice but instead choose to place their energy into justifying it by quickly judging the… https://t.co/OLJbhCoS28
— Matt Forte (@Matt Forte)1598578381.0