Matt Nagy has sworn up and down that he trusts Andy Dalton to start for the Chicago Bears. He genuinely believes the veteran gives this offense the best chance to function right now. Justin Fields’ time will come. That is inevitable. The goal is to hold off until it is absolutely certain he is ready. Until then, Dalton is a good enough veteran to help this team score some points and compete.
Not everybody buys this. Some don’t believe Nagy will have the stomach to stand by his word when the real bullets start flying. When Dalton inevitably struggles at some point this season. The head coach already proved last year he has a quick hook for his quarterbacks when he senses something isn’t working. He did it to Mitch Trubisky in Week 3 last season and did it to Nick Foles going into the bye week.
Dalton will be no different.
At least according to former New York Giants Vice President of Player Evaluation Marc Ross. The man helped that organization win two Super Bowls. So he has seen plenty of plans regarding the quarterback position. Based on what he is seeing with the Bears? He isn’t buying Nagy’s assertions in the slightest. In fact, he believes the head coach won’t waste any time switching gears on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
“Marc Ross: Andy Dalton has the second-worst win percentage in prime-time games (.261) since 2000 — and those struggles continue Sunday night in Los Angeles. The veteran is benched at halftime after being shut out and mustering just 100 yards of total offense. In steps rookie sensation Justin Fields, who leads the Bears to a comeback win against a Rams defense that can’t overcome the offseason losses of Brandon Staley, John Johnson, Troy Hill and Michael Brockers. Fields’ debut includes one passing TD and another on the ground.”
The sad thing is? Most Bears fans probably wouldn’t be surprised by that. Bad starts have become sort of the norm during Nagy’s time in Chicago. Everybody remembers the infamous Eagles game in 2019 where they managed just nine yards in the first half. So 100? That would garner a shrug and belief it’s just more of the same. Will it be enough for the coach to go back on his word? That is hard to say.
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Andy Dalton faces a nearly impossible scenario
He has to come in, grasp a complicated offense, and play above-average right away against a schedule that features seven of the 10 best pass defenses from last season. While he is no stranger to playing in difficult circumstances, this is something almost no quarterback short of Tom Brady himself could handle. There is a strong possibility that this first game in Los Angeles will be as ugly as Ross envisions.
Will it be enough to get Andy Dalton benched? Probably not. Nagy might have had a quick hook for Trubisky last year, but it’s fair to remember he’d already seen the young QB operate for two years by that point. He knew what he had and those first three games hadn’t shown anything different. Dalton deserves a bit of a longer leash than that. Struggling in his first game in this offense against the best defense in the NFL from last season shouldn’t be a surprise.
Then again, nobody can predict how this head coach thinks.
It would be the height of irony for him to insist this team will sit Fields for as long as possible only to send him in after just one half of the first game. Not that Bears fans would complain. That would just mean they’d get to see the guy many feel is the franchise QB they’ve been waiting literal decades for.