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While the wins-losses results have been mixed so far, most fans would probably agree that they are generally happy with the results under Trestman and the direction with which the team–and the offense specifically–are headed.
With that said, Trestman has earned a reputation as somewhat of a gambler as a playcaller and coach. He cited advance statistics when he decided not to use a timeout at the end of regulation with the Ravens inside the Bears' 15 yard line, he went for a fourth and one from the Bears' 32-yard-line with around eight minutes left in a four-point game and attempted a 47-yard field goal on second down in overtime. The team has attempted 10 fourth downs this season, converting on eight of them.
While all of those decisions didn't go according to plan, the fact remains that Trestman is somewhat of a gambler. He isn't afraid to look conventional wisdom in the face and turn it away.
It's a nice thing when it works and he comes out looking like a genius, but when it backfires, well, sports radio, the media and the fans aren't afraid to sound off about it.
On Sunday when the Bears take the field against the Browns in Cleveland by far the biggest gamble of Trestman's Bears tenure will be played out: benching Josh McCown for Jay Cutler.
The fans and media alike are divided on this issue and there are plenty of sound arguments for both sides. On one hand the team needs to see what it has in Jay Cutler in this offense, who before his injury was playing the best football of his Bears career, because his contract is expiring. The team needs to know what it has in Cutler if it's going to tag him to be "the player" for the next four or five years.
On the other hand, there is the hot hand in Josh McCown who has been playing the best football of his career and is right off a five total touchdown performance on Monday Night Football.
When Marc Trestman was hired it was widely cited that he is a quarterback whisperer. Every coaching stop he has made when he tutored a QB he got some of the best production out of him. His offensive mind has produced an offensive unseen in Chicago in decades.
While fans are passionately divided in the McCown or Cutler debate my question is, do you trust Trestman?
Has Trestman earned the trust of the fans? Trestman in his tenure so far, has been mostly straightforward and honest with fans. The team has been more open to the fans and the media, explaining decisions and plays when they have been called into question.
All along Trestman has said that as soon as Jay Cutler was healthy he was be back as the starter. Now that has happened. Trestman is a QB expert, who played the position himself and Jon Gruden mentioned on MNF that Trestman gets the quarterback's psyche.
Trestman has been good for both McCown and Cutler and outwardly there appears to be no controversy, McCown has not given the slightest hint that he is upset that the team has benched him.
Trestman was hired for his ability to get the most out of quarterbacks and his offensive expertise. So far it's been so good on both those fronts. Has the man who has gotten so much out his quarterbacks and who has brought this offense into the 21st century made the right decision for which quarterback is the right one to win out?
With two games to go and the team needing to win out, the question is...
...do you trust Trestman?
