Chicago is captivated by Mitch Mania, a euphoria over the impending debut Monday night of Bears rookie Mitch Trubisky against the Vikings. The Bears have gone generations without having a consistently above-average quarterback. Nobody knows if Trubisky is the real deal, which only fuels the allure.
Trubisky, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, won't have much currently in common with Sam Bradford — who is expected to start for the Vikings after missing three weeks with a knee injury. But Trubisky has a lot in common with the 2010 version of Bradford.
Seven years ago, Bradford was the hotshot rookie — the No. 1 overall pick of the Rams in the 2010 draft. Unlike the Bears, who used Mike Glennon to start this season before turning to Trubisky this week in the wake of Glennon's failures, the Rams gave Bradford the starting job from week 1.
If Trubisky's debut ends up being anything like Bradford's did on Sept. 12, 2010, things will probably have gone horribly wrong for the Bears.
In his debut at home against Arizona, Bradford threw an absurd 55 passes — a number that still stands as tied for the second-most he's ever attempted in an NFL game. A whopping 19 of those attempts came in the final 6:08 of the fourth quarter after the Cardinals took a 17-13 lead on a go-ahead touchdown.
Bradford led the Rams down the field but had a potential game-winning drive stymied by an interception. He got the ball right back on a Cardinals fumble and once again drove into Arizona territory before he was intercepted on the game's final play as the Rams fell 17-13.
The Rams had workhorse Steven Jackson at the time, and he carried 22 times. I'm guessing nowhere in their game plan did they have a rookie making his debut throwing 55 times.
The same could likely be said for the Bears, who will want to exploit a solid running game against the Vikings. The more Trubisky has to throw, the worse things will probably be going for Chicago.