Matt Nagy isn’t getting a lot of respect from people lately. A bit odd considering he’s never had a losing season. Now he’s in the playoffs for the second time in three years. Yet people are treating him as if it’s a fluke. This is where context is always key. Nagy has overseen a steady decline of this team since 2018. He’s 1-5 against the Green Bay Packers, 1-6 this season against winning teams, and oversaw yet another offense that failed to even finish in the top 20.

So what exactly is there to celebrate. The one constant during this three-year run has been the defense. Something Nagy has minimal involvement in. The biggest thing he was brought in to fix was the quarterback position. Through three complete regular seasons, his QBs have amassed a passer rating of 88.31. That is actually below the league average of 88.6.

If Nagy could fix the QBs or the offense, what good is he?

There is no denying he is a leader. Keeping his players from completely crumbling after a six-game losing streak is noteworthy. Others would’ve easily lost the locker room. That being said, nothing about the Bears says they’ve gotten better the longer Nagy has been in charge. If anything they’ve been on a steady decline since the start of 2019.

For a man who was Coach of the Year at one point, his star has fallen quite a bit. Enough to where others have no problem taking jabs at him over some of his questionable decisions in the past year. Take the popular Bleacher Report series “Gridiron Heights” as an example. Using a parody of The Dark Knight Rises, they needled the Bears head coach multiple times. Mostly over his handling of Mitch Trubisky.

Matt Nagy never looked like he was in control

His decision to bench Trubisky was celebrated by some but also questioned by others. The 26-year old had gone 2-0 to start the season. Sure he struggled in Atlanta, but was that really enough evidence that it was time to make a switch? Nagy felt instantly validated when Nick Foles led a huge comeback to win the game but he didn’t have long to gloat. Seven weeks later, Foles was 2-5 as a starter and left the field on a cart in the last one.

When the Bears went back to Trubisky, it wasn’t out of some sort of gut instinct by Matt Nagy. He really didn’t have much of a choice. Foles was hurt and the offense was lifeless with him under center. It was the only move he had. Lucky for him it came right in the nick of time. Chicago finished 3-3 down the stretch and they got two big assists from the 49ers and Rams to slip into the playoffs.

So yeah. Patting him on the back doesn’t exactly feel appropriate.

Now narratives can change fast in the NFL. Nagy still has a chance to get a lot of people back on his side. It’ll start on Sunday in New Orleans. Upsetting the #2 seed Saints in the Superdome would probably go down as one of the big upsets in recent memory. Is this coach capable of something like that? He better hope so.