Was it a happy accident or a calculated jab? Probably the former but it’s hard not to think the Chicago Bears Twitter account was feeling a bit feisty early Sunday morning. As the rest of the NFL prepared for their first games of the year, the Bears are looking towards next week after their unfortunate loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. The account hoped to drum up some excitement by including one of the few offensive highlights from that game.
It was of rookie running back David Montgomery pulling of a frenetic six-yard run where he broke multiple tackles en route to a well-earned first down. The highlight in itself wasn’t anything special. It was the line typed above it that was hard to ignore. Anybody with half a brain would be tempted to think it was an ice cold burn of head coach Matt Nagy.
One of the big criticisms coming out of that game was Nagy’s refusal to place a greater emphasis on running the football. The Bears did so just 12 times the entire game, not including Trubisky scrambles. Montgomery was the biggest victim of this. He ran the ball just six times all night and had one catch for 27 yards. This was confusing to many since he was obviously making some things happen. Not to mention the Bears spent plenty to trade up and get him in the draft.
Why do that if there are no plans to actually use him?
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Chicago Bears Twitter was right to call Nagy out
Did the Twitter account actually call him out? Who knows. If they did though, they were absolutely correct to do so. This marks the second-straight game where Nagy abandoned the run when there was absolutely no reason to. The Bears never trailed by more than a touchdown against both the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs and the Packers on Thursday. Such a lack of balance has exposed Mitch Trubisky to something he’s clearly not ready for.
Trubisky’s best games in 2018 were accompanied by steady committments to the run. Chicago ran 31 times in that 6-TD explosion against Tampa Bay and 22 times against the Lions at Soldier Field where he had three. This team drafted Montgomery to be their featured guy. Don’t let them offer any of that spin about a backfield committee. He is their best all-around talent at that position and has to get fed. It was obvious on Thursday night.
Nagy better realize it before this season gets away from him.
