Nagy Quit on the Bears, and the Bears Quit on Him

It is time to start a search for a new head coach.

I try not to be this knee-jerk with statements like this. I really try not to make any assertions like this about any coach, player, whomever on this site. I understand that, more often than not, every professional athlete and coach is trying to do their best, they are trying to win. Sometimes, there is a lack of ability and that is ok.

What isn’t ok is what we saw during the playoff game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. On Sunday, with 1:49 left in the first half, Matt Nagy quit on his team. That, in turn, caused the defense to quit on him.

The Bears defense had a great first half. Outside of the lone touchdown drive, the entire unit was flying around, making plays, and most importantly – getting in Drew Brees head.

For much of the first half, Brees was noticeably rushed. Throwing before routes could develop, getting quick feet, and causing a turnover (and another taken away through instant replay). Just after the two-minute warning, the Bears defense had a huge stand and forced the Saints to punt the ball. This would set up the offense with a perfect opportunity to strike, having decent field position and two time-outs.

OH! And the Bears would get the ball coming out of the half! This was a real chance to change this game around.

And that’s exactly what the Bears did… Oh, wait… no… no it’s not. They didn’t even try.

Nagy, or Bill Lazor (who was given play-calling rights, but we all know it was still Nagy), called three consecutive runs, directly up the middle, the drive stalled and they ended up punting (twice, because they couldn’t even complete a punt without getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which they had three in the contest). The punt would cause time to run out, but at least they would get the ball to start the second half!

Welp… the first drive out of the half was really the end of the Bears season (well, honestly it was the end of the first half, but you’ll see what I mean). It didn’t start that way, with Cordell Paterson returning the ball 42-yards and starting the drive from the 34-yard line.

Mitch Trubisky was firing to come out of the half. With hook-ups with Allen Robinson for chunks of 21-yards and 15-yards, it seemed like the Bears were in business. Except, that’s when the reigns were tightened. Mitch was handcuffed by the play-caller, then perhaps one of the stupidest penalties I have ever seen a Bears player make, cost the team, Anthony Miller, for the remainder of the game. Oh, and the play before the disqualification, Trubisky took a sack which brought the team out of field goal range.

So they punt.

The defense then came out on the field for the first time in the second half and laid a complete egg. They played undisciplined, they wouldn’t tackle anyone, and Brees tore the Bears secondary apart with little to no pressure.

The defense did seem to stop the Saints, but on a 4th and 3 on the Chicago 13, Eddie Jackson was next up on the bonehead podium, jumping the count and being charged with a neutral-zone infraction giving the Saints a first down. That was the last thing that seemed to go right. (Except if you count a garbage time TD Trubisky threw with no time remaining)

The Bears defense wouldn’t tackle from then on out. Brees would throw only one incomplete pass and sack in the second half of play.

Another indictment on the coaching staff happened late in the fourth. Already trailing 21-3, the Bears offense would get the ball with 8:50 remaining in the game. With Nagy showing absolutely NO FAITH in the team, he decided to run the ball on first down (no gain), ran a play with no receivers running over the top on second down (Mitch scrambled for a 1-yard gain), and then Trubisky threw short for an incompletion.

With 7:45 remaining (yes, they only had the ball for 1:05) everyone that’s ever watched the game believed this was time for the Bears to go for it (hell, even Gabbie Nevaeh Green from the Nickelodeon broadcast, thought they should go for it too). But Nagy sent out the punt unit and gave the Saints the ball back.

After a long drive, that ate 5:16 off the clock, the Bears got the ball back on the half-yard line. This drive did end in a touchdown, where the receiver (tight end Jimmy Graham) walked off the field and into the locker room after coming down with the catch.

Now, I understand not putting the ball in Trubisky’s hands and looking to play a conservative game plan. But they did that when they played the Green Bay Packers, and that didn’t work. They came out in today’s game looking to push the ball downfield – and they should have succeeded. After a deep pass down the nearside sideline, the Bears called a flea-flicker out of the Wildcat. That play should have concluded in a touchdown, but Javon Wims allowed a perfect dime to fall on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome endzone turf.

The Bears would show some aggressiveness, going for it on a fourth and four, but Mitch ran to the nearside for two yards before he went out of bounds.

The Bears defense was putting on a clinic for the first half. They deserved better than the offensive game plan. Whether the coaching staff purposely held the offense back or not, the uninspired play-calling was observed by the defense. All. Game. Long.

When the staff wasn’t handcuffing Mitch, they were calling the same predictable bootleg, time-after-time. The Saints weren’t fooled by the call either. As soon as it was sniffed out, the Saints would bump any receiver coming across the field, which would slow the play, and either force Mitch to run it, dump it short, or throw it out of bounds.

This was a poor performance, regardless of how you looked at it. The undisciplined and uninspired second-half play, in a 7-3 football game, was completely unacceptable and disrespectful to the fans and city of Chicago. But, that Bears defense had to feel disrespected themselves. After putting up a gem in that first half and seeing the coach call it in… that has to feel like a slap in the face. The Bears coaching staff should not be the ones disrespecting their own players efforts by not giving their best effort at the same time.