Fox analyst Chris Spielman detects crisis of confidence with Bears QB Mitch Trubisky

Spielman, who will call Giants-Bears on Sunday, shook plenty of quarterbacks’ confidence during a 10-year career as a linebacker that included four Pro Bowls with the Lions.

Chris Spielman wonders if he witnessed the turning point in the Bears’ season the last time he was in town analyzing a game for Fox.

It was almost a month ago, Week 8 against the Chargers, when Mitch Trubisky drove the Bears into field-goal range in the last minute and a half, only to watch Eddy Pineiro miss a 41-yard field goal that was rife with controversy, from the distance to the placement.

Since then, Trubisky and the offense have fallen deeper into despair.

“I wonder if they would have made that kick against the Chargers, not blaming Pineiro or anything, just blaming the whole thing, if that would have done something for [Trubisky],” Spielman said. “Because I remember on the broadcast saying to Thom [Brennaman], ‘OK, this is Mitchell’s time to shine, this is why they drafted him.’ Bam, a couple strikes down the field, the big run, here comes the game-winning field goal, and he misses it.”

Spielman, who will be on the call with Brennaman for Giants-Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field, believes winning that game could have given Trubisky a much-needed confidence boost after watching his work on the final drive pay off.

“You’ve got a huge investment in the guy, and I do think there’s a confidence issue right now,” Spielman said. “I can’t overemphasize how important it is to have that position play with great confidence. I’m not sure that it’s there.”

Spielman shook plenty of quarterbacks’ confidence during a 10-year career (1988-95 with the Lions, 1996-97 with the Bills) as a linebacker that included four Pro Bowls. But he isn’t campaigning on the “Dump Trubisky” platform, pointing out that the quarterback has been hurt by the lack of an effective running game and the loss of tight end Trey Burton.

“I don’t think they’re as far off as maybe some of the fans think,” Spielman said. “You get 74 plays [last week against the Rams], which is almost unheard of for an NFL team, and you get seven points out of it. To me, it’s not necessarily a physical issue, but it is a confidence issue.”

But confidence only will come from success, and that has coach Matt Nagy facing a crucible in the last six games of the season: building confidence in Trubisky while keeping the locker room from fraying. While the offense has struggled, the defense generally has held up its end of the bargain.

“That’s the biggest challenge. Matt has to keep everybody together,” said Spielman, who was on Lions teams that finished 4-12 and 12-4. “I like Matt. I think Matt didn’t forget how to call plays. He’s gotta figure out what he can do to get this going. It’s not always play-calling, it’s execution of plays.”