Matt Nagy gets a lot of grief from Chicago Bears fans. Most of it centering around his continued failure to field even an average NFL offense this far into his third season. In fairness, he doesn’t have the greatest personnel in the world. Then again that isn’t the best excuse. Carolina lost their star QB (Cam Newton), traded Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner, lost Christian McCaffrey to injury, and still have managed to field the #6 offense in the league.
So maybe coaching is a significant issue on that front. Then again, nobody can argue with Nagy’s success. Despite the offensive issues he’s managed to post the second-best record through his first 37 games of any coach in Bears history. He finds ways to win. That is what head coaches need to do at the end of the day.
So one can say this. At least they aren’t stuck with Matt Patricia. The former New England Patriots defensive coordinator was billed as a major upgrade at head coach for the Detroit Lions in 2018. He certainly had the accolades to back up such a claim. The reality though has been far different.
Just bring up the name Jim Caldwell.
He was the guy Patricia replaced and the guy a lot of fans are starting to wish was still there. Mike Sando of The Athletic provided some ugly evidence of how bad Patricia messed up what Caldwell left behind. Complete with a chart showcasing how inferior he’s been to Nagy since the two joined the division three seasons ago.
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“Caldwell is the only non-interim Lions coach since 1973 to post a winning record with the team, which makes Patricia the only Lions coach since then to inherit a winning program. Caldwell had a 38-26 record for a .563 winning percentage. Patricia, at 10-25-1 (.292), would have to win his next 24 games to surpass Caldwell’s win rate.
The state of the Lions when Patricia took over was, by any objective measure, better than the state of the team now. While they have not won in the playoffs since January 1992, many new coaches would take their chances with a quarterback as talented as Matthew Stafford.”
Matt Nagy is undefeated against Patricia too
Also adding insult to injury is how Nagy has pretty much owned the Lions since arriving. Prior to Nagy showing up, the Bears had lost eight of their previous nine games against Detroit. Since taking over, they are a perfect 5-0. All with Patricia as their head coach. The latest loss was probably the worst as they coughed up a 23-6 lead at home on opening day.
All of this despite Patricia having the superior quarterback in three of those games. That is the ultimate sign that the Lions probably got their choice wrong. Given the ongoing rivalry, it’s hard to feel sad about that if you’re a Bears fan.
It also makes it easier to appreciate the choice they made with Matt Nagy.