Matt Nagy understands where he is. He knows the Chicago Bears are followed by a passionate fanbase. One that isn’t afraid to drop the hammer on somebody when they feel he is doing things wrong. For the fourth-year head coach, he’s been hearing a lot for the past two years. While there are plenty of criticisms that fans have of him, probably the most persistent is his erratic commitment to running the football.
Last season offered plenty of proof. There were five instances where the Bears ran the ball 17 times or less as a team in a game. At times he’ll start off running the ball but at the first sign of trouble will just abandon it. This has lead to rampant accusations that he is too pass-happy. A dangerous proposition even in today’s NFL. So when asked whether he hates running the ball on the Under Center podcast, he chose to defend himself.
“No. Not at all. I understand what city I’m in and where we’re at with Chicago and defense and running the football. But I think you have to be able to run the football to be successful (and) set up the pass. That’s our goal. To get better in every area…
…What’s happened in the last couple years and why some of David’s (Montgomery) carries, which aren’t low, haven’t been quite as high is a lot of guys get in the 4-minute mode in the 4th quarter. They get those extra four or five carries which can bump them up in the top 5 with 20 rushes a game.
That’s our goal. We want to be able to have the lead so that we can continue to give him the ball.”
This is an interesting point.
What Nagy is saying is that the reason he’s been so inconsistent running the ball is the Bears haven’t been playing with enough leads. Just look at the team’s rushing attempts ranking from each of the past three seasons.
- 2020: 28th
- 2019: 21st
- 2018: 8th
Is there any correlation to what Nagy says in these rankings? Yes. In 2018, the Bears ran 518 offensive plays when they were leading a football game. That is out of 1,012 total. In 2019, that number dropped to 331 and was 348 last year. A clear indication the Bears were either tied or more often trailing most of the time. Nagy is making it clear he is a member of the newer school of thinking.
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He believes in the mantra of passing to get the lead and then running to keep it. This mode of operation really took flight back in the 1980s with Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers. They would often use Joe Montana or Steve Young to get the team in front on the scoreboard, then would let Roger Craig or Ricky Watters bleed the clock away in the 4th quarter. Andy Reid has done the same thing for most of his career in Philadelphia and Kansas City.
Matt Nagy has been missed the key ingredient
This being a quarterback. He did the best he could but neither Mitch Trubisky nor Nick Foles was able to take advantage of the favorable looks they were getting. The reason Nagy kept throwing the ball was that defenses were geared to stop the run. A competent quarterback should’ve been able to take advantage. It didn’t happen. So the Bears did what they did this offseason by overhauling the quarterback position.
For Matt Nagy, he feels the combination of Andy Dalton and Justin Fields is much better suited to what he wants to do. Throw the ball and build an early lead. Then in the second half, unleash Montgomery and that reinforced backfield. It isn’t an overly complicated approach. Just one that puts a lot of responsibility on the quarterback position. If you have one? It should work great. If not?
Well, you’ve seen the results for the past two years.
The hope is Dalton or Fields can make things work properly this time. If they do, then Montgomery is lining up for a possible career-best season. One where he figures to see a ton of action late in games. Playing that “closer” role he was so good at in college. If they don’t? Then Nagy could have a lot to answer for next offseason.