Matt Nagy Must Embrace His Dark Side to Win in Chicago
Matt Nagy is under a lot of pressure this year. The Chicago Bears head coach heads into his third season with serious questions about his capabilities. While his team did finish 8-8 last season, his offense was a mess. It finished 27th in both total yards and points scored. It is really hard to win in the NFL under those conditions. Even with a great defense. This has led to questions about his overall approach.
Most have focused on his play calling. A better way to put this is his overall philosophy. Nagy comes from a West Coast-style background. Coaches steeped in that system tend to think from a pass-first perspective. Throw to set up the run. There is nothing wrong with this type of thinking. Several teams that have used this type of approach have encounter boatloads of success in the past. The Kansas City Chiefs did it just this past year.
The problem is it’s a system that relies heavily on the quarterback being able to execute. Clearly the Bears can’t rely on Mitch Trubisky to hold up his end of the bargain. This means they have two options. Either they find a quarterback who can, or Nagy must do something he’s been unwilling to thus far.
He must change.
Matt Nagy has to embrace “Bears football”
Nobody is saying Nagy’s system is flawed. Everybody knows it works. There is plenty of evidence proving as much. The issue is it can’t function without an adequate QB. So until the Bears actually find one, Nagy must go back to what has worked in Chicago for decades. He has to commit to running the football. Since the year 2000, the Bears have finished in the top 10 in rushing attempts for a season seven times.
They are a combined 73-39 with five winning seasons, four playoff appearances, and a trip to the Super Bowl.
It’s one thing to say you want to run the ball. It’s another to actually do it. Nagy saw what backing up those words did for him in 2018. Yes, the blocking wasn’t great at all last year but the Bears also never tried to make it part of their identity. Not like it was with Jordan Howard the year before. They held out hope that Trubisky would become the focal point of their offense last year and paid the price.
If they’re serious about sticking with him in 2020, then it has to be with a renewed commitment to running the football.