Bears let Matt Barkley down in his 1st career start

There was something about Matt Barkley’s starting quarterback debut with the Chicago Bears on Sunday that was very Jay Cutler-esque. The Bears, in a losing effort to the Tennessee Titans, started Barkley in place of the injured Cutler and at times looked perfectly competent on the offensive side of the ball, and at other times a completely dysfunctional mess.

That’s Cutler in a nutshell. The kind of player who will fumble a snap and hurt himself while doing it before going back in and throwing a 70-yard touchdown pass with a bum arm. But Cutler has been more bust than boom in Chicago, and with a contract that has been widely criticized over the years, it’s time for the Bears to move on.

It’s increasingly likely they will draft a new quarterback next season to have any chance at stability. Yet, very little thought has been given to Barkley, a player who has performed poorly in spot duty thus far in his career, with no touchdowns and six picks going into Sunday. But there was a time when Cutler was a pretty good quarterback to have as the starter, and if Barkley resembled him on the field, he might be worth taking a closer look at.

We’ll do just that below.

That’s one of Barkley’s three touchdowns from Sunday’s game, and it was a beauty. Mechanically, it’s obvious that he had one objective on this fourth-and-short situation: Get it to the one player at the corner of the end zone. But Barkley throws a perfect dime that only his receiver can catch, and in a very crucial situation.

And here is another touchdown, and it’s not just Barkley tossing the ball up and hoping for the best. Barkley drops back, surveys the entire field, and steps into a laser touchdown throw. It’s red-zone success, an area the Bears struggle with, primarily due to Cutler interceptions.

Barkley wasn’t perfect, and in fact had plenty of bad moments in Sunday’s game. He threw two interceptions, and he also had an issue with overthrowing his receivers. And for every drop (spoilers: we take a look at those, too) there was also an instance of him not having enough touch on his passes.

Here you can see Barkley getting flustered and out of his comfort zone. He throws the ball where he obviously shouldn’t be throwing the ball. Flustering Cutler, especially in the red zone, has always been the key to game-changing interceptions. An end zone pick on a third-and-goal is something Bears fans are used to. This is a bad look, even if Barkley is being chased.

This interception had more to do with Barkley’s impatience than anything else. He had plenty of time in the pocket and options on the field, but he threw it to the man in the middle who was well covered. His dump-off option to his right was wide open, but Barkley didn’t even look his way. It was a mental mistake more than anything else, and it’s something Barkley definitely has to work on.

Sometimes, the Bears’ natural dysfunction shows up. Whether they’re targeting Logan Paulsen on crucial fourth downs instead of much better options or they’re running an offense completely predicated on launching the ball downfield and praying, the Bears’ issues clearly go beyond the quarterback position.

On Sunday, that manifested in the form of drops. A lot of them.

Here’s Barkley throwing a perfect pass over the defensive back and right into the hands of Marquess Wilson — who promptly drops it. The receiver has plenty of room, he’s not being pressed hard, the pass isn’t falling down awkwardly. It’s just an egregious drop on what was a guaranteed touchdown.

It’s Wilson again, beating his man deep, or beating him well enough to where, if Barkley places the ball accurately, then it’s going to be a big gain. Barkley does place the ball accurately, but Wilson simply can’t come down with it. It hits him right in the hands, and at that point, Barkley has done all he can do.

And here is the most egregious play. This was the final drive of the game for the Bears. They had a chance to come from behind here and take the lead with 47 seconds to go, and Barkley, after surveying the field, finds a wide open Josh Bellamy and hits him in the hands. Or rather, he would have hit him in the hands if Bellamy didn’t decide to jump up and try to catch the ball with his stomach for literally no reason. More incompletions followed and the Bears did not score on the drive.

The Bears had some good plays, and then they looked completely lost on others. Barkley overthrew several receivers and had two interceptions, but he also led scoring drives of 13 and 14 plays in the fourth quarter.

Chicago asked Barkley to throw 54 times in his first start, the third-most in Bears franchise history. Cutler has never thrown that many times in a game for the Bears. But Barkley’s receivers also dropped 10 passes on the day, eight of which came in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee doesn’t have a great defense, especially with the loss of corner Jason McCourty. At times, Barkley exploited that defense and at times, his receivers let him down. Barkley also messed things up for himself on occasion.

Barkley may not be the answer, but he certainly looked no worse than Cutler, a player the Bears might be stuck with. At the very least, he’s earned another look whether Cutler is healthy or not. Cutler has already been paid the massive guarantees in his contract and they can afford the comparatively modest $12.5 million base salary he’s due next year, so he’s always available as a fallback option.

Barkley deserves another shot and deserves a better showing from his supporting cast on top of that.