Chicago Bears: Bill Lazor calling plays in win says everything about Matt Nagy

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy said Bill Lazor called plays in the team’s Week 4 win over the Lions and the sideline leader continues to look cooked.

One week after one of the most disastrous offensive outings we’ve seen in quite some time as rookie Justin Fields made his first start, the Chicago Bears won a football game. Albeit against a now 0-4 Lions team, Chicago took care of business at home to earn a 24-14 win and move to 2-2 on the season.

Throughout the week, head coach Matt Nagy was under heavy criticism for his play-calling in the ugly Week 3 loss to the Browns as many fans and analysts surmised that he routinely put Fields in unadvantageous positions. That led to speculation that offensive coordinator Bill Lazor could take over the duty of calling the plays. Nagy, however, was mum on if that change would happen.

After the win over the Lions, though, the head coach confirmed that Lazor called the plays in Week 4. And considering the stark difference in what the Fields and the Bears looked like on Sunday in comparison to when Nagy was calling plays in Week 3, it’s incredibly revealing.

Matt Nagy has to go for the Chicago Bears to turn things around

While the level of competition was certainly steeper against the Browns than the Lions, it was night and day between the offensive performances. Fields was put in spots where he could play to his strengths and a steady dose of David Montgomery, who unfortunately left with a seemingly serious leg injury, helped to open up the play-action game.

Now, it should be noted that the Bears still only scored 24 points against a winless Detroit team. But that’s still miles better than having one net passing yard while looking completely hopeless when they had the ball against Cleveland.

Nagy has long preached about patience with his offense but the time for that has passed. At every turn, the head coach has proven that he’s not the right man for the job in getting the Bears in position to consistently succeed. And the difference in performance when he and Lazor were calling plays is only more evidence of that.

To make matters worse, Nagy continues to look petulant and unable to admit his flaws. When saying that Lazor called the plays against the Lions, he was sure to let everyone know that “ultimately it goes through me.” That doesn’t make him look like the mastermind of the offense with someone else calling plays — it makes him look like a desperate head coach incapable of relinquishing control or accepting reality.

Because the Bears won, the calls for Nagy’s job might somewhat subside. But the problems that would lead to such conversations are as present as ever before. This franchise needs better leadership and the fact that the offense found its footing when the head coach wasn’t in charge of what was being called fully proves that.