The Chicago Bears got trounced by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, 21-9. The Bears were outcoached, outplayed, and out-hustled throughout this game. What do the Bears do now after another disappointing playoff loss?
If the Bears want to become a competitive team, they have to let go of the coaching staff, starting with General Manager Ryan Pace and Head coach Matt Nagy. I don’t care if this team just made the playoffs; the Bears were 1-7 against teams above .500. You can’t stick with a coach coaching staff that can’t beat good teams.
Since his Head Coaching debut, Matt Nagy has only declined despite making playoffs two out of the three years. Nagy went 12-4 his first season, and the Bears won the division. Unfortunately, the Bears fell to the Nick Foles led Eagles in the infamous double-doink game after K Cody Parkey missed the game-winning kick. In his second season, the Super Bowl-caliber Bears fell flat on their faces with an 8-8 record and no playoffs.
This season, the Bears made the playoffs thanks to the newly added wildcard spot. The Bears ended their season 8-8 after a 5-1 start. Nagy needs to go, but so does the man who hired him, Ryan Pace. When the Bears hired Pace in 2015, he was the youngest GM in NFL. Since then, the two guys Pace handpicked to get the Bears back to glory, John Fox and Matt Nagy, have failed. If his questionable decision-making ended there, we might be having a different conversation, but it doesn’t.
In 2017, the Bears signed QB Mike Glennon to a three-year, $45 million contract only to trade up one spot in the NFL Draft to pick up QB Mitch Trubisky at second overall. That trade cost the Bears two third-round picks and a fourth-round pick. To add insult to injury, the next QBs to be taken that year were Patrick Mahomes at #10 and Deshaun Watson at #12. After going 5-11, the Bears fired John Fox and brought in Matt Nagy. Nagy’s top priority was to mold Trubisky into the Bears’ Franchise QB, and it worked. The Bears ended the 2018 season 12-4, Trubisky was named a Pro-Bowler, and Nagy was named Coach of the Year.
The 2019 season saw a questionable change in playcalling from Nagy. It seemed that in the off-season Nagy decided Trubisky became a dropback passer instead of fostering the offensive strategy that elevated the Bears in 2018 and took advantage of Trubisky’s athleticism. Let’s be clear; Trubisky is no Peyton Manning. He can’t have the offense be all dependent on him against an opponent. Nagy went away from his season winning gameplan; the Bears lost the division and missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
Ahead of the 2020 season, the Bears signed veteran TE Jimmy Graham to a two-year, $16 million contract only to use their first draft pick on TE Cole Kmet. Although this wasn’t as egregious as the Glennon signing, the Nick Foles signing was. After the mediocre 2019 season, Trubisky was unceremoniously benched after three games, and the Bears brought in Nick Foles. Foles signed a three-year, $24 million contract and battled Trubinsky for the top spot in the preseason. In the end, Trubisky led the Bears into the playoffs with a win-loss record of 6-3.
The Bears will probably lose their starting QB and their two best WRs, Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, making this the opportune time to wipe the slate clean. They would need to commit to an old fashioned rebuild from the ground up by replacing Pace and Nagy. I know most fans hate hearing the word “rebuild,” but sometimes the nuclear option is best. Sticking with Nagy and Pace feels like the band playing while the Titanic sunk.