The Chicago Bears will play their last game of the 2021 season on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings in what likely will be Matt Nagy’s final game as head coach. Nagy is expected to be fired as early as Monday morning as he has failed to build on the success Chicago experienced in 2018. The 2018 season finale against the Minnesota Vikings will serve as the high mark of Nagy’s tenure as the Bears’ head coach.

The Bears are planning to move on from Matt Nagy pic.twitter.com/adLUj50efi

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) January 8, 2022

Nagy Had Arguably His Best Game As A Head Coach Against the Vikings in 2018

Heading into the 2018 week 17 against the Vikings in Minnesota, the 11-win Bears had little to play for as they had already clinched the NFC North Division and were likely unable to clinch a Wild Card round bye for the NFC Playoffs. Chicago needed the 12-win Los Angeles Rams to lose to the four-win San Francisco 49ers. With a win, the Bears would also eliminate the Vikings from making the playoffs and allow the Philadelphia Eagles to clinch the final spot in the NFC Playoffs.

Although the Bears had all their starters to begin the game, many people believed Nagy would pull his starters once the Rams’ game became uncompetitive. NFL analysts believed the Vikings would be the more aggressive team with them needing a win to make the playoff and the Bears’ playoff positioning practically already decided before halftime. The opposite would occur as Nagy’s team played with desire the entire game.

2. In Week 17 in 2018, the Bears drained the life out of the Vikings on their own field and knocked them out of the playoffs. This week, the Vikings have nothing to play for (with the 6 seed locked up.) The Bears could conceivably sweep MIN for the second straight year.

— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 27, 2019

The Bears’ offense would score a touchdown on their first drive of the game as running back Jordan Howard rushed for 55 yards on the scoring drive and capped it off by a 6-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky would have an efficient game completing 18 passes for 168 yards, including a 40-yard pass to wide receiver Taylor Gabriel that led to another touchdown. The Bears’ offense would score a season-high three rushing touchdowns against a strong Vikings’ rush defense.

Chicago’s defense would hold a potent Minnesota offense to only ten points as quarterback Kirk Cousins was under significant pressure the entire game. Cousins was sacked four times as he appeared visibly frustrated on the sideline, yelling at his receivers. Even more impressive was that after Nagy pulled his defensive starters late in the game, the Vikings’ offense continued to struggle to move the ball against the Bears’ backups.

Which receivers run the best routes in the NFL? Who's the quarterback?

That's right, natural leader Kirk Cousins — spending extra time with his receivers to detail the finer points of route-running pic.twitter.com/g3UhxFAIx5

— Arif Hasan, recently acquired (@ArifHasanNFL) November 25, 2019

The Bears won the game 24-10 as they eliminated the Vikings from playoff contention while keeping their starters healthy. Nagy received high praise as his team appeared more motivated to play than their opponent, despite not having much to play for. The season finale victory was one of the main games that helped lead Chicago’s coach to receive Coach of the Year honors for the 2018 season.

Matt Nagy, the 2018 Coach of the Year!

In his 1st season with the Bears, Nagy led the team to its 1st division title and 1st playoff appearance since 2010. pic.twitter.com/SarQ6vzH2k

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 2, 2019

Nagy’s Coaching Tenure Has Regressed and Struggled Since 2018

A week after the Bears’ victory over the Vikings in the 2018 season finale, they would heartbreakingly lose to the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the quick exit from the playoffs, many believed the Bears would contend for a Super Bowl in 2019. When the 2019 season opened, the city of Chicago was at an all-time high with excitement for its football team. That excitement would quickly fade as the Bears’ lost their season-opening game against the rival Green Bay Packers 10-3. Although there were expectations for Nagy’s offense to be better than in 2018, Chicago’s offense struggled significantly in 2019 as the team finished the season with an 8-8 record.

It took the Bears 7.5 quarters to find the end zone against the Packers in 2019.

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) December 15, 2019

Following the end of the 2019 season, Nagy would fire most of his offensive positional coaches, including offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. The Bears would also trade for quarterback Nick Foles as the former Super Bowl MVP would enter a quarterback competition with Trubisky before the 2020 season. Nagy believed Foles would make his offense successful as the veteran quarterback had familiarity with the offensive playbook.

Nagy would bench Trubisky following a Week 3 victory and insert Foles as his starting quarterback. Despite the initial success with the veteran quarterback in the Week 3 win against the Falcons, Chicago’s offense would struggle significantly midway through the season. During a 6-game losing streak, Nagy was stripped of his play-calling duties in favor of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. Chicago’s head coach would face further criticism when Trubisky would help lead the Bears to a late-season winning streak that enabled them to make the playoffs.

1. The #Bears now rank 31st in the NFL in points scored and total yards.

Only one offense in team history ranked worse. That was in 2004. The Craig Krenzel/Jonathan Quinn/Chad Hutchinson era.

The fact Matt Nagy has managed this with Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles says it all.

— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) November 17, 2020

Following another quick exit from the playoffs, Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace were given the 2021 season to improve or face the possibility of being fired. The Bears will finish under .500 and will not make the playoffs as the offense struggled again as Justin Fields, Andy Dalton, and Foles all have started at quarterback this year. Nagy’s inability to have Fields turn in a successful rookie campaign is the biggest indictment against the embattled head coach.

Nagy’s coaching career with the Bears went from being very special to very disappointing quickly. As a head coach hired for his success with developing quarterbacks and designing innovative plays, he has failed at both aspects during his Bears’ tenure. Nagy’s biggest mistake as a coach has been his stubbornness and unwillingness to change from his offense, despite repeated struggles to create production.

Matt Nagy, riding high off great wins vs TB and CAR, somehow managed to burn through almost all of the goodwill he’s built up with me in one single game.

Mismanaged timeouts, terrible execution, a poor initial gameplan, minimal adjustments, AND stubbornness overall. Wow.

— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) October 27, 2020

Similar to the 2018 season finale, the Bears have a good chance of winning their 2021 season finale on Sunday against the Vikings. Even with Chicago potentially finishing the season with a three-game winning streak, the season will end with disappointment due to fields’ struggles and another missed playoff opportunity. Within three years, Nagy went from being viewed as one of the next elite head coaches in the league to be potentially being unemployed as soon as Monday.