The Chicago Bears never have fired a coach during the season, but Matt Nagy’s job status is in the spotlight after a ‘flat-out embarrassing’ lossBy COLLEEN KANE CHICAGO TRIBUNE NOV 30, 2020 AT 4:41 PM
Matt Nagy sat down for a Zoom call with reporters 12 hours after the Chicago Bears’ 41-25 loss to the Green Bay Packers and called the performance what it was: “flat-out embarrassing.”
Nagy’s team sank to a new low Sunday night as its losing streak reached five games, causing questions to arise about the job security of many at Halas Hall. The Bears coach said he hoped everybody in the building lost sleep as they examined what went wrong when they fell behind by 24 points in the first half and trailed by 31 against the NFC North leaders.
“I know this: We better wake our tails up,” Nagy said. “Every freaking coach on the staff, every player, better wake up and start understanding where we’re at. Have some personal pride. Have a freaking sense of urgency. Know where we’re at. Have some pride into who we’re playing for and why we do this and then go find a way to win as a team. That’s my challenge to every single person in that building this week.“Yesterday was flat-out embarrassing, and our guys know it. … But we’re going to step up — all coaches, all players — and we’ve got five games left. For us, it’s our own personal challenge as to where we’re at and how we’re going to do this thing. But that performance yesterday is ridiculous and can’t happen. And obviously that starts with me.”Indeed, Nagy’s job status — and that of general manager Ryan Pace — has moved into a glaring spotlight with the Bears falling to 5-6.
The Bears never have fired a coach in season. Not Marc Trestman after a 55-14 loss to the Packers dropped the Bears to 3-6 in 2014. And not John Fox after the Bears lost five straight in 2017, including back-to-back embarrassments against the Philadelphia Eagles and 49ers, to drop to 3-9. Both were fired after the final game in those seasons.
And so it would appear Nagy, who is 25-18 over three seasons, has five games to stockpile evidence for his case that the McCaskey family should keep him around. The Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions already have fired their head coaches this season.
Nagy said Sunday night he was more focused on keeping his team together amid the challenges than he was worried about losing his job. He reiterated that Monday while also saying he understands the potential ramifications of such a slide.
“That’s all a part of our business,” Nagy said. “Not just head coaches but coordinators, position coaches, all of our families, we all sign up for that. That comes along with where we’re at.
“I can’t worry about that right now. … When you lose five in a row like this, you’ve got to come up with different solutions, different answers and then you’ve got to have that pride. So put all of that other stuff aside. I have to worry about every single day being the leader for these guys and this team and to understand, ‘OK, where are our warts at? And whatever they are, let’s clean them up.’ ”
Leadership isn’t Nagy’s biggest issue, though it is bound to be tested even more if the Bears can’t pull themselves up against a weak closing schedule that includes the Lions, Texans, Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars before another meeting with the Packers.
While Nagy on Monday called out his defense, which allowed the Packers to rush for 182 yards and Aaron Rodgers to throw four touchdown passes without a takeaway or a sack, his offense has been the primary culprit during the losing streak.
Nagy has made many changes in an effort to fix one of the worst offenses in the league. He brought in several new offensive coaches in the offseason, benched quarterback Mitch Trubisky for Nick Foles and then brought Trubisky back and gave up play calling to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.
None has produced the desired results, and the Bears remain 31st in the league, ahead of only the New York Jets, with 305.5 yards per game and 4.7 yards per play.
The failure has put Nagy in the position of trying to drum up motivation for a stretch run to change the narrative on his tenure, as unlikely as that might seem after a loss like the one at Lambeau Field.
He at least knows some of his players feel his pain. Outside linebacker Khalil Mack said afterward the performance was “unacceptable” and “very frustrating.” And wide receiver Anthony Miller tweeted, “(Expletive) embarrassing.”
“Right now is an extreme low,” Nagy said. “It’s not fun at all. It stinks. But if you fight, if you care, if you have a little pride, if your DNA allows you to get a little pissed off and angry, maybe then good things happen.
“Check yourself, and that’s where there’s some soul searching. That’s what the soul searching means. It doesn’t mean point fingers. It doesn’t mean blame. That’s not what we do. That’s not how we roll. But you better have some stinking fire and you better have some care. And if you have that, I promise you with the talent that we have, good things will happen. But you’ve got to do it. Enough is enough. We all feel it.”
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