There are many cardinal sins a head coach can make in the NFL. Yet none can hold a candle to the most obvious. Making things easier for the opponent. Matt Nagy did that on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. His game plan for Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears offense was considered nothing short of attempted murder. Fields was sacked nine times and it wasn’t difficult to see why. His offensive line couldn’t block and Nagy kept putting them into positions where they’d have to go one-on-one.
It was a total farce. Chicago finished with one net passing yard. Experts couldn’t believe what they were watching. Straight drop after straight drop. Barely any screens, bootlegs, moving pockets, or RPOs. Not to mention a quick abandonment of the running game. David Montgomery had just 10 carries. It turns out they and fans weren’t the only ones surprised by what Nagy did. Even the opposition couldn’t believe it. Albert Breer of the MMQB spoke to sources in Cleveland.
What they had to say was pretty damning.
In the Browns’ study of the Bears, they found the offense to have a Shanahan/Sean McVay type of foundation under center and an Andy Reid foundation out of shotgun. And through looking at that stuff, and seeing what Fields did in the preseason, and how effective the Bears could be running the ball from the former rather than the latter, they expected the Chicago staff to play Fields under center a lot on Sunday. It didn’t happen.
Only four of Fields’s 45 snaps came from under center, and the Bears ran the ball only 13 times on the afternoon (a reason why seven of Fields’s third downs were of the third-and-10-or-longer variety), more often than not creating a sitting-duck situation with Fields’s dropping out of the shotgun and the Browns’ fierce front’s attacking Chicago’s shaky offensive line.
No matter how many times one reads that, it doesn’t get any less infuriating. Putting a kid in his first start on the road against a top NFL pass rush behind a makeshift offensive like and you call almost exclusive shotgun with minimum protection. Yeah, Fields missed some opportunities but there weren’t many. Most of the time he was too busy running for his life or his receivers were covered. Nagy didn’t even try to help him.
Keep in mind many saw this coming months ago. The majority of fans and media wanted Nagy out. They felt his gross incompetence on the offensive side had already wasted a good defense for long enough. George McCaskey was literally the only man who disagreed. He felt the head coach had the right “character” for the job. This is the NFL. Character alone isn’t going to win football games.
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Chicago Bears have soul searching to do
One thing that is indisputable? Fields is the most talented quarterback this organization has ever drafted. He has the potential to be a star in the NFL. The problem is he’s only one man. Without the proper structure, he can’t be expected to flourish. This is something the franchise has continuously failed to grasp going back decades. Mitch Trubisky was the latest example, first being saddled with John Fox and then Nagy.
The Chicago Bears can’t let this happen again. Somebody at the top must make a statement to the head coach. Either had the offense to somebody else or lose your job. Right now those look like his two options. He’s had over three years to show his style of offense work. It doesn’t. In fact, it has never even cracked the top 20. Unless this organization wants to see another QB project fail?
They have to get Fields away from Nagy.
One thing is for sure. If people think it’s bad right now, try to imagine how things will get if the Bears lose to Detroit this Sunday at Soldier Fields. Especially if Fields doesn’t play well again. Not only will they be 1-3 and likely out of the playoff chase, but also getting ready to face three straight teams with winning records and red hot quarterbacks. If the Browns game doesn’t get Nagy fired, then that stretch probably will.