#mattnagy

Matt Nagy hammered the 5-1 recorded coming in to prime time trying to legitimize it but the tape don't lie. After the 3-0 Chicago Bears start I raised the question 'Are the Bears good?' Monday Night Football gave us the answer, Chicago is just average. Sitting on top of the NFC standings with a chance to show they're real competitors they showed they're frauds.

The Rams won 24-10 but the Bears defense out scored their offense 7-3. It was a 10-3 game in to the second half as the D tried to keep the game close, scoring the defensive touchdown with over seven minutes left to cut it to 24-10. They followed it up with a three and out, but Nick Foles and the offense was off all night.

Chicago's offensive line got worked all night as Foles was regularly harassed and couldn't step in to throws. In the second quarter he missed Darnell Mooney for what would have been a 90+ yard score. After the three out in the fourth Foles had Anthony Miller for a big gain and left it short for an incompletion. You can't fault the two picks on Foles completely as the first was tipped, though thrown in coverage, and his hand got hit on the second. However, the last five drives for the Bears were pick, downs, downs, pick, downs.

Yet again, Nagy should receive scrutiny for his management of the offense. Cole Kmet had a couple of big plays early and then was never heard from again. Chicago had a chance to force the Rams to but to see what happens, and gave up a sack after two timeouts during stopped time. It was noted during the broadcast Foles had told the coach to be aware of the pressure he was under with the banged up offensive line, yet the coach didn't seem to help out his O. Screens, draws, quick passes there wasn't enough of it to help the offense.

The Bears need to cut Ted Ginn right now. Johnny Hekker had a great night downing all of his punts inside the 20, really inside the 10, but it doesn't help when your returner might as well of not been out there. If Ginn wasn't out there nothing would have changed and he didn't even look like he was interested in attempting to return the ball.

Chicago has played three top teams and absolutely laid an egg in two of them. After the 3-0 start the Bears got the Colts at home and the offense looked like it shouldn't be on the field. The defense kept the game close but all for not. Tonight against the Rams, Chicago had attempts but it never felt like they were actually threatening. Again, the defense out scored them.

The one big game Chicago won was at home against Tampa Bay. It was another case where the defense dominated, though the Bucs helped with very sloppy play, and the offense did just enough. It was a short week after the Bears were embarrassed against the Colts and the Bucs had the Packers the next week. Was it a fluke? It certainty seems to be trending that way in a weird 2020 NFL season. Against the good teams the offense has looked pedestrian and needs the defense to make big plays to have a chance.

At 5-2 the Bears are fourth in the NFC and the first wild card team, but the schedule doesn't get any easier. Three of the next four games are against the Saints, at the Titans and at the Packers. Very quickly they could find themselves 6-5 and Chicago still has both games against Green Bay. Nagy's squad does have both Vikings games, the Lions, Texans and at Jacksonville. With how they performed a 10 win season is in the cards but, to use a family quote, it'll be because they beat the tomato cans of the league.

There are plenty of bad teams in the league and Chicago has taken advantage of a manageable schedule, and you can only play who you face, but it doesn't instill confidence in the Bears actually being a threat. Getting that first wild card spot is a win as it'll be against the winner of the NFC lEast, but will Nagy's squad stand a chance in the next round against actual good teams?

Any reasonable Bears' fan had to be skeptical of the 3-0 start and were watching this Sunday's game just to see what the Bears really are. The answer, a team that gotten some breaks and could easily be 0-4 instead of 3-1. Head coach Matt Nagy made the QB change and got the guy he wanted, Nick Foles, but if you watched the game nothing changed. In fact, the offense looked like it did last year.

The trade for Foles will always deserve criticism because Jacksonville was not going to keep Foles and Chicago traded a 4th round pick, outbidding themselves. What would the Bears look like if they signed Cam Newton for next to nothing? The reasoning for the trade was Foles knows the offense and should be able to take the helm and be an improvement. Don't get me wrong, Foles is not an All-Pro but the Colts game showed maybe it's not just the guy under center that's the problem.

All reports from former players and professionals are Matt Nagy is extremely clever and the type of offensive coach that can elevate his team. Where is it? Was it all just smoke and mirrors that first playoff birth season? The offense looked exactly like it did last year despite the QB change and was putrid at home in an ugly game.

The Bears were 3-0 against bad teams, combined 1-11 for the season, so the quality of team on the other side was a big step up but Nagy helped the Indy defense. In the first three games Chicago rushed 85 times for 414 yards, good for 4.87 yards per carry. The rushing attack was averaging 138 yards per game but Nagy only called 16 rushes against the Colts. The team only totaled 28 yards, an awful 1.8 yards per carry, but Nagy has to be better.

Again, the Colts defense is immensely better than any other team the Bears have faced, and Tarik Cohen was lost for the season against Atlanta, but if the coach is clever he ought to be able to figure something out. Nagy's comments painted a picture of being unhappy with how the offense had to run to suit Trubisky but I'd take that over what I saw against Indy. 13 carries for the backs versus 42 pass attempts for Foles? The Bears offense isn't good enough to operate that way.

Nagy ran the pass happy offense last year to awful results and with 'his guy' apparently is going to pass, pass and pass some more. No running back is going to get in the flow of the game with ten rushes and apparently Nagy forgot David Montgomery was on the team, despite averaging over 14 rushes and two catches a game coming in. Not far off his average admittedly, but Nagy needs to realize what his team needs to win and that's not 40+ throws a game.

Can we be done with the Cordarrelle Patterson running back experiment? He has 18 rushes for 62 yards on the season and is taking carries from better players, namely Montgomery. Patterson isn't a big play back and my last memories of him will be getting stuffed on 4th down as the coach has gotten too cute trying to outsmart everyone with something that isn't working. In a league where backs can be pulled from anywhere and produce Chicago can't find someone better than Patterson as a change of pace?

The defense gave up an opening drive TD but put together it's first complete game, holding Indianapolis to 19 points despite the offense regularly putting them quickly back on the field. Nagy responded with only three points until garbage time, that should never happen. Any optimism we had as fans has found itself where it normally is for Chicago, gone and making you question why you even believed things would be different.

If you're a Chicago Bears fan you're probably already sick of the season. This team came in as as a Super Bowl contender and looks far from it. After the double doink sent coach Nagy's squad home early last season another year in the offense and that vicious young defense growing up meant contending with the NFC North. Instead the offense is terrible and the defense is wearing down.

The new trend is to pair your young QB with an offensive mind to make him comfortable and build something. Last year it looked like something with all the movements but the saying is give them an off season and they'll figure you out. The verdict is out for the Bears. Despite drafting a new running back coach Nagy seems unwilling to run the ball. Chicago ran seven, SEVEN, times for 19 yards against the Saints.

It was 12-10 at half and all the coach could say was it wasn't getting first downs but passing the ball was. First of all, no it wasn't coach. Second, the running game is about patience and wearing a team down. With a beat up offensive line and a very good New Orleans' front seven your game plan was to have your inaccurate QB throw 54 times?! That is no formula to succeed, nor is it doing Trubisky any favors.

More concerning, with extra time to prepare Nagy has been killed. The opening game against the Green Bay Packers was an absolute embarrassment. With a bye week, at home and a Saints team missing some key pieces Chicago was barely in the game. If it wasn't for the Cordarrelle Patterson kick return there wouldn't have been really any points in the first half. That self-scouting didn't work coach and you got out worked with extra time, not a great sign.

Now is not the time for loyalty from GM Ryan Pace and the Bears front office. We're less than two seasons in to Matt Nagy's tenure and less than three in to Trubisky, but loyalty is what sets teams back. Maybe, maybe, Nagy needs more time but the jury seems to be out on Trubisky. Yes he was coming off an injury going in to the Saints game but he has massively regressed from last season. He was the number two overall pick, that Pace traded up for, but if he can't take advantage of the window the defense has then don't waste it by saying with something that doesn't work.

Now Pace is human and admitting he got the QB pick wrong could cost him his job but staying with Mitch could set the team back even more. What happens when this team does nothing and you have to decide to pay Eddie Jackson, Leonard Floyd, Roquan Smith, Tarik Cohen, etc? Loyalty to Trubisky, who doesn't deserve that big contract or maybe even his fifth year option picked up, means other players would have to leave. That would be a mistake.

Everyone knows what this defense is capable of but now the poor offense is clearly hurting the defense. In back-to-back games they've given up over 100 rushing yards. Maybe they're being exposed, the performance in the first half against the Raiders was awful, but the pressure of having to play perfect because Trubisky and the O can't do anything will wear on them. They held Teddy Bridgewater and the Saints to just 10 points in the first half before folding in the second.

Last year the Bears were 12-4 and hosted a playoff game but sports is a win now business. It may not be time to call for Nagy's job, yet, but even the most loyal fans have to be honest about Trubisky. This offense is doing nothing and has looked better with Chase Daniel under center, which isn't saying much either. Windows don't last long and loyalty in the wrong case could cost the Bears theirs. We'll see how they bounce back after a player's only meeting and the reeling Chargers coming to town next, but it's not looking good.