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Bears coach Matt Nagy is under a lot of pressure this season. Nagy decided to move on from Mitchell Trubisky last season when he benched him in favor of Nick Foles. When Foles got hurt, after his 2-5 start in Chicago, Trubisky became the team’s starter again. Without that change at quarterback, the team likely would have missed the playoffs.
Going into the 2021 NFL season, the Bears moved on to quarterback Andy Dalton. He is the projected starter going into Week 1 against the Rams. In this case, there’s more pressure on Nagy than if he starts rookie quarterback Justin Fields. Fields gives him more leeway if the team struggles, but that shouldn’t determine his future. The final record and success – or lack thereof – should determine Nagy’s future.
Bears general manager Ryan Pace’s contract expires this season, while Nagy has two more on his. After not giving up the playbook after a year and a half of poor play calling, it’s proven that a stubborn and inconsistent play caller hasn’t helped find the success Chicago had hoped for after an amazing 2018 season.
Now, going into his fourth year as the Bears head coach, anything less than the playoffs should be enough for the team to let go of Nagy. The excuse of giving him another year to work with Fields shouldn’t cut it, as there are still 52 other guys on the roster – and a veteran starter in Dalton to work with. Though he is a bridge quarterback, this is the choice of Pace and Nagy. They moved on from Trubisky and Foles.
There are no more excuses for this group. They’ve wasted time giving them. This is Pace’s fifth starting quarterback, (Jay Cutler, Mike Glennon, Trubisky, Foles, Dalton), since he joined the Bears in 2015. For Nagy, it’s his third starting quarterback, (Trubisky, Foles, Dalton). If this doesn’t go well, both Pace and Nagy need to be out of Chicago next offseason.
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