Matt Nagy lacks many things when it comes to constructing a viable NFL offense. Probably the most important of all is common sense. Too often it seems like he aims to operate his scheme the same way week after week regardless of who the opponent is or who is playing quarterback. Almost like he doesn’t seem to grasp that certain opponents have great players on defense. Players that warrant extra attention.
Never was that clearer than against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. There were plenty of coaching blunders in that game. The lack of any viable screen or quick slant attacks to help beat the Bucs relentless blitz. Chirping in Justin Fields’ headset to do a quick snap thinking there were 12 men on the field when there weren’t. Yet the most egregious decision came from a personnel standpoint. Dan Orlovsky of ESPN talked about it on Keshawn, JWill, & Max.
Shortly before the game, the Bears got bad news.
Elijah Wilkinson, their backup right tackle who was starting in place of the injured Germain Ifedi, landed on the Reserve/COVID list. Already down rookies Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom as well, the Bears were forced to start second-year man Lachavious Simmons in that spot. Their 7th round pick from a year ago. Common sense dictates the coaches would make sure to give him consistent help with tight ends and chips against Shaq Barrett. A former Pro Bowler who had 4.5 sacks going into that game.
They did not. Simmons was left on and island multiple times and the results were predictable. Barrett abused him to such a severe degree that the Bears eventually had to replace the embattled tackle midway through the game with Alex Bars. A guy who has played exclusively on the interior since arriving in the NFL two years ago. That is where things are at.
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Matt Nagy simply cannot run a competent offense
It’s been over three years now. He’s had four different starting quarterbacks. Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, and Justin Fields. Things haven’t changed. There is only one person left to point the finger at. The head coach has reiterated over and over that he believes this offense will eventually click. Meanwhile, Sean McVay had the Rams scoring points from the moment he arrived back in 2017.
The excuses have to stop. Chicago has given Matt Nagy more time than he probably deserved to get this thing fixed. There was a strong case to fire him after the end of the 2020 season despite his late surge to sneak into the playoffs. George McCaskey opted to give him one more chance. Now the offense is worse than ever. At one point is enough going to be enough?
Not yet it seems.
Bears fans have 10 more games of this to look forward to. The team is currently on pace to score 245 points. That would be the third-lowest total since 1976 and they have an extra game to play too. Considering the athletic talent they have on this squad, that is nothing short of incredible. Nagy might be able to find positive spins for everything, but he can’t hide from the facts.