Matt Nagy hasn’t budged from his stance for months. Despite the Chicago Bears trading up to get Justin Fields in April, despite the young QB looking great in the preseason, the head coach is sticking with his master plan. That is to go with Andy Dalton as the starter. His reasoning? The belief that the 33-year old with his intelligence and experience gives the team a better chance to win now. Meanwhile, Fields could benefit a great deal from learning on the sideline.
This approach is hardly novel. Several teams have done it in the past. Most recently with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. Green Bay did it with Aaron Rodgers, Cincinnati with Carson Palmer, and Philadelphia with Donovan McNabb. The results speak for themselves. There is a degree of logic to it. However, there is one critical part of this entire design.
Dalton has to play well.
One insider believes Nagy is fully committed to playing him all season, provided he’s decent and healthy. That may seem like a manageable request. Not everybody thinks so. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com recently ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks going into 2021. He placed Dalton 30th. However, it wasn’t for the reasons you think. This situation is doomed to fail for two reasons. Neither being the quarterback himself.
“He wasn’t as bad as you remember in 2020. He was exactly what you’d expect operating behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league while working with explosive playmakers. He was Andy Dalton, rising and falling according to the situation around him. The situation around him in Chicago — especially with regard to his offensive line and play-caller — doesn’t inspire confidence that he’ll remain the starter for long.”
People most often reference the offensive line as the primary reason Dalton may flounder. Then again he had a bad offensive line in Dallas last year and seemed to manage. It feels like the lack of confidence is more directed at Nagy. He caused a considerable stir earlier this offseason when he chose to take back play calling duties from offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. A move that was not well-received by fans.
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Nagy has no track record to think he can help Andy Dalton
There is a reason he gave up the call sheet in the first place. Through two and a half seasons dating back to 2018, Nagy was never able to find any consistency for his offense. His play calling baffled people at times. The poor clock management, overly complicated formations, lack of identity, swift abandonment of the run, and weird personnel usage. None of it came off as somebody who knew what he was doing.
When an offense finishes 21st, 29th, and 26th in three years? Skepticism is more than justified. This preseason did little to alleviate those fears. Chicago went an abysmal 6-of-33 on 3rd down. A problem that bedeviled Nagy the past two years. A constant inability to stay on the field. Now he expects everybody to trust him that Andy Dalton will make everything right? That isn’t happening.
Problems with this offense go beyond just the quarterback.
Unless evidence soon arrives of that not being the case? Doubts about Nagy’s competence as a play caller will linger. Dalton is a capable enough quarterback but he is not a player who can overcome the lack of a decent coach running the offense. This isn’t somebody who can take things beyond the design through improvisation. He needs a strong offensive structure to function at a high level. Nagy has yet to show he can provide that.