True to form, the Chicago Bears remain a slippery bar of soap when it comes to getting proper inside information. Ian Rapoport began Sunday morning with a bit of a bombshell. Based on what he’s hearing, the team is planning on Matt Nagy being the head coach again next season. This after rampant speculation he could be fired if the Bears failed to finish strong. After three-straight wins and a chance at a fourth? It seems ownership saw what they needed to see.
Or so people were led to believe. It seems not everybody shares Rapoport’s confidence that Nagy will return. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports addressed the issue of both Nagy and GM Ryan Pace prior to the first slate of games. Based on what he’s heard, nothing is decided yet. A big factor in the decision-making process is whether or not they make the playoffs. Something that is far from a guarantee.
Why should people celebrate the past few weeks anyway?
It’s not like Nagy navigated the team past a nightmare slate of opponents. The three teams they beat were Houston, Minnesota, and Jacksonville. All with losing records this season. All with really bad defenses. It’s not hard to think he is just benefitting from a fortuitous schedule. This is probably why so much weight is being placed on what happens in a few hours.
The Green Bay Packers are the best team in the NFC. They own a 1-4 record against Nagy as a head coach. This is the stiffest test the Bears have faced in over a month. Green Bay still has something to place for in homefield advantage. If Chicago once again can’t get past them in a meaningful game? It’s hard to justify Nagy deserves to stay.
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The #NFL coaching carousel! What you need to know and a lot of changes to come in the next 48 hours. @NFLonFox #NFLUpdates #Coaches #Week17 #Staying #Going pic.twitter.com/2NLrRxigWm
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 3, 2021
Jay Glazer is rarely off-target on his NFL statements
He doesn’t make a lot of predictions but when he does? They’re almost always accurate. So when he says the Nagy situation is undetermined, it is probably true. Everything I’ve been able to gather backs this up as well. Ownership is happy about the win streak but it’s not enough. They need to know whether this team has really turned a corner or not. That is why beating the Packers and/or winning a playoff game feel necessary to his survival.
Finishing 8-8 for the second-straight year can’t be called progress. Making the playoff will not have been a result of the Bears getting better. Merely benefitting from the NFL expanding the number of teams allowed into the postseason. It’s true Nagy has a winning record in his first three years running the team, but one can also argue the team hasn’t gotten better. Compared to where they were in 2018, they’ve regressed.
That’s not all on Nagy but it’s a key factor in his evaluation.
Jay Glazer is making it clear that the McCaskeys haven’t made any firm decision on anybody. They intend to wait until all 16 games have been played. They want a full picture of where this team is at. Not a bad way of operation given how important a decision this could end up being. Nagy has two years left on his current contract. Giving him one more season wouldn’t be a huge deal, but there are potential long-term implications if they do.