After their fifth straight loss, reports have Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy’s job all but cut. Now even players who normally back him are starting to turn on him.
On Sunday, the Chicago Bears suffered another heartbreaking loss. It was their fifth loss in a row and dropped their record to a dismal 3-7. Now, with all the injuries piling up, the rest of the season will be difficult to watch.
This is the third year in a row that the Bears, under head coach Matt Nagy, lost at least four games in a row. In 2019, they lost four games in a row. That number jumped to six last season, and now they currently have a five-game streak. In addition, they’ve now lost 15 of their last 21 games (including last season’s playoff game).
Making matters look even worse, the Bears head into their Thanksgiving Day matchup against the winless Detroit Lions with a longer losing streak. Yes, believe it, the Chicago Bears now have the longest current losing streak in the NFL.
Matt Nagy may be on borrowed time with the Chicago Bears
The Bears haven’t gotten what they looked for when they hired Nagy. He came in with the reputation of being an offensive guru and quarterback whisperer. Instead, the offense has ranked at or near the bottom of nearly every offensive category.
In terms of handling his young quarterbacks, Nagy also has trouble. General manager Ryan Pace, whose seat is also hot, thought Nagy was the guy who could develop Mitchell Trubisky. That didn’t happen, and the Bears eventually let him walk away in free agency.
This season, Pace and the Bears drafted one of the top prospects in Justin Fields. Nagy had a second chance to show his skills. However, he’s failed at that again. He basically treated Fields like the guy at the end of the bench throughout training camp. Fields received no reps with the starters.
When it came time to have Fields start, that lack of chemistry with his receivers showed. Fields did do well with Darnell Mooney and Jesse James. The reason, though, was because Mooney stayed after practice to work with Fields and James was the backups who got to work with him. When James got to play more snaps he already had a good connection with FIelds.
Nagy did not plan to use Fields much this season. Even when he had no choice but to start him, he has done an awful job of developing him. There aren’t enough plays called that utilize all of Fields’ skills. It seems that Nagy and the coaching staff want to turn him into a prototypical pocket quarterback.
For some reason, the game plan that Nagy himself says he has a big part of planning doesn’t move the pocket. That helps Fields use his legs and helps the offensive line, which has struggled, protect better. There is also a great lack of slants and screens that get the ball out quickly. Ironically, in last week’s game, once Fields left with the rib injury, there was a call for a wide receiver screen. Mooney caught it and went 60 yards for a touchdown.
Nagy’s failure to handle Fields properly is a big reason for his seat to be hot. It isn’t the only reason, however. Reports have Nagy, whose best quality was how much his players were loyal to him, losing the locker room.
An overwhelming number of #Bears’ players want Matt Nagy gone, league sources say. “He lost some of the locker room last season, but now it’s gone,” one source adds. One key holdup: No HC in the 101-year franchise history has ever been let go during the season.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 22, 2021
The key part of the above statement is that the Chicago Bears have never fired a head coach during the season. It appears that the McCaskey family doesn’t want a head coach to do nothing and get paid unless he does nothing on the sidelines.
However, with the development of Fields being such a high priority, things may change. Also, with the other players voicing their displeasure, the situation might be too volatile for Nagy to continue.
We’ve already seen Jaylon Johnson publicly complain about a fine levied on him by Nagy. Additionally, Marquise Goodwin appeared to take a shot at Nagy’s game plan in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. Let’s not forget offensive coordinator Bill Lazor saying he felt in the preseason that Fields was ready for anything thrown at him, contradicting Nagy’s plan.
Things are going from bad to worse for Nagy. If the losses continue to pile up and Fields and the offense continues to have trouble, the McCaskeys might not have any choice but to relieve Nagy of his duties before the end of the season. That would be good news for the fans and players.