The Chicago Bears are 3-1 for the first time since 2013. Teams that do that have a greater than 70% chance of making the playoffs. It’s a dream fans have already begun to think about. One man who isn’t having any of that is head coach Matt Nagy. He knows better than anybody that it’s a long season and things can change in a hurry.
The Bears have been fortunate thus far. Their early schedule has been favorable and they’ve managed to stay relatively healthy. Bigger tests are on the horizon though and they have plenty of work left to do. Despite being just 40-years old, Nagy has 10 years of NFL experience and has seen what getting too cocky can do to a team.
In 2014, his Kansas City Chiefs had reeled off five straight wins by mid-November and were 7-3. Everybody thought they were going back to the playoffs. Then they promptly lost four of their next five and finished a disappointing 9-7. In 2011, the Eagles were the heavy favorites to not only win the division but advance to the Super Bowl. A “dream team” some called it.
They went 8-8. These are hard-won lessons that Nagy fully intends to put to use.
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Matt Nagy reminded Bears that no team makes the playoffs in September
One thing that has been proven about Nagy is he’s a master of motivational tactics. He’s particularly good at using methods from prior successful coaches. He used a Bill Parcells speech to buck up Mitch Trubisky during his struggles in the first three games. The kid responded by throwing six touchdowns against Tampa Bay. Now he’s using another plan to keep his team from thinking too far ahead.
“Do not think that you’re a playoff team,” Nagy said. “Do not think that you’re a team that can just go out in the field and win because you’re 3-1 and you’re the Chicago Bears. That’s not true.
We need to understand that every game we need to bring our best. That was a rare game (Sunday) to win by 38 points. There’s too much parity in this league.”
It’s a firm reminder that the NFL doesn’t salute its best teams with 12 games still to go in the season. This is something many coaches have harped on for years. Perhaps none more so than Brian Billick. Back in 2000, he was the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. The team had started to play some good football and was getting confident. However, he refused to let them even mention the idea of the playoffs in public. Quite literally.
The ploy, childish though it may have seemed, worked. The Ravens went into the playoffs on a hot streak, dominated the postseason and crushed the Giants in the Super Bowl. All because Billick had managed to keep them focused on one game at a time. That is what so often derails other great teams. They get caught looking ahead. Nagy, to his credit, is making it clear right away that there will be none of that allowed in the Bears locker room.
