It's hard to tune out all of the postgame noise that sprung as a result of quarterback Chase Daniel's commendable performance in relief of Mitch Trubisky in Week 4's 16-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Trubisky has been the target of criticism since throwing that ill-advised interception in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, and despite a promising performance two weeks ago against the Washington Redskins, remains the team's top target amongst analysts.
So when the backup comes in and plays well, the talking heads will talk. A lot.
But what really matters most is what Bears fans think. So I decided to post this question on Twitter: If Daniel has a similar game against the Raiders as he had against the Vikings, do you think he should remain the starter regardless of Trubisky's health?
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The results were overwhelmingly in Trubisky's favor.
78 percent of fans who responded don't think Trubisky should lose his job to Daniel regardless of the outcome in London on Sunday. It makes sense; Daniel's primary job as a backup quarterback is to do exactly what he did against the Vikings. Don't blow the game; give the Bears a chance to win. He did that, and he did it well.
But let's play devil's advocate, shall we?
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The argument against Daniel as a viable option to replace Trubisky is that he's been in the NFL for 11 years and has just four starts (he'll make his fifth against the Raiders). He's a career backup, so he must not be any good, right? Wrong.
Dig deeper into Daniel's career and you'll see that few players would've risen to starters had they traveled his path to the Bears. He was a member of the Saints from 2010-2012 and played behind Drew Brees. He was with the Chiefs from 2013-2015 and was stuck behind Alex Smith, who was just then turning the corner and becoming a very good NFL starter. In 2016, Daniel was supposed to finally have a shot to play with the Eagles until they selected Carson Wentz with the second overall pick. Then it was back to the Saints (and Brees) until finally signing with the Bears in 2018.
You tell me: how many quarterbacks who are starting in the NFL right now would've emerged as starters with those teams? So let's not completely rule out Daniel as a starting-caliber quarterback, even if his career hasn't produced evidence to support the argument (yet).
All that said, the Bears are Trubisky's team and it'll be that way until he forces Matt Nagy to pull him out of the lineup, and it won't be because of injury.