Is Matt Nagy already on the hot seat in 2020?

Matt Nagy’s job is safe in 2020. But if Nagy can’t find a way to get the Bears back on track, he could very well be out of a job afterward.

Matt Nagy celebrated his 20th victory in his two seasons as head coach of the Chicago Bears following Sunday’s season-finale victory over the Minnesota Vikings. But it was an accomplishment that felt hollow considering the disappointing season his team had in 2019.

While many teams are clearing house on this day we affectionately refer to as Black Monday, Nagy won’t be among those head coaches out of a job. In two seasons as Bears coach, Nagy has amassed a 20-13 record (including the postseason), and he hasn’t had a losing season.

But next season? All bets are off. If Nagy can’t find a way to get his team back on a playoff track, one year from now he could very well be out of a job.

According to NFL Insider Jason LaCanfora, Nagy is already on the hot seat heading into 2020:

The honeymoon is over for GM Ryan Pace, coach Matt Nagy and recent second-overall pick Mitchell Trubisky. Their playoff run seems like a looong time ago and they’d best find a semblance of a running game and offensive identity in 2020 or they’re all going to be gone. They’d best find a legit starting option to push Trubisky and should probably let him run around more next year. Can they find a run game? Is the defense regressing from its heights under Vic Fangio? Ownership is super high on Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, who has been turning down NFL teams for years but wouldn’t have to sell his house to coach the Bears. If Ron Rivera doesn’t find the right spot this year, returning to the Bears, where he played, would also seem like a no brainer.

The complaint about Nagy has been less about his head coaching ability and more about how he’s handled the offense. Nagy would serve to take a step back from the offense — let Mark Helfrich or whoever will serve as Chicago’s offensive coordinator in 2020 — and let someone else call the plays. That way Nagy’s focus would be more on the team than just most on the offense.

Nagy has certainly earned himself another season to right the ship in Chicago. But given what he was able to accomplish in 2018 and then followed up with in 2019, a repeat performance of this past season shouldn’t be tolerated.

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Which in-house free agent should be Bears’ top priority on defense?

Bears GM Ryan Pace has plenty of work to do in locking up in-house free agents. But should S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix be his priority on defense?

The Chicago Bears have a busy offseason ahead of them, and it all starts following Sunday’s finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

General manager Ryan Pace has a ton of work to do this offseason, particularly in-house with players set to hit free agency. His priority should be to re-sign current players.

While the Bears offense has plenty of room to grow, Chicago’s defense can’t say the same. They’ve allowed the fifth fewest points in the NFL this season, and they have a nice core in place. They’ll certainly benefit from the return of some healthy starters in 2020.

But there are some essential extensions that Pace needs to make happen on the defensive side of the ball, among them defensive tackle Nick Williams and linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis.

As for who should be the biggest priority, that guy is safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, according to Bleacher Report.

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix may not be the best safety set to hit the free-agent market, but his physical style of play fits the Chicago Bears defense perfectly.

Clinton-Dix has thrived in his first season with the Bears—he has 74 tackles, five passes defended, two interceptions and a defensive touchdown—and it makes sense to bring him back for another.

While Clinton-Dix doesn’t have sensational numbers, he’s fared well for the Bears as Adrian Amos’ much cheaper replacement. Clinton-Dix has two interceptions this season — both coming against the Washington Redskins in Week 3 — which ranks second on the Bears. He’s done enough to warrant an extension from Chicago.

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Will TE Trey Burton be part of Bears’ plans heading into 2020?

While TE Trey Burton’s health has been in question since last January’s Wild Card game, his future with Bears doesn’t seem as cloudy.

While tight end Trey Burton’s health has been in question since last January’s Wild Card playoff game, his future with the Bears doesn’t seem as cloudy.

When Bears head coach Matt Nagy was asked whether Burton intends to play in 2020, Nagy said: “Yeah, I would hope so. I don’t see why not.”

It’s no secret that the tight end position has been one of the most disappointing aspects of this underachieving season. But for Burton even more so, whose health has been a looming question mark since the night before the Wild Card game against the Eagles where his groin “completely locked up.”

Burton underwent sports hernia surgery in the offseason, but he experienced a setback during training camp. Burton made his season debut against the Broncos in Week 2, but he was never the same.

Burton was ineffective in the eight games he did play in before he landed on injured reserve with a calf injury. His health certainly is a huge concern that looms over the position heading into the offseason.

“He’s had a year of trying to get healthy, and he’s not there yet,” Nagy said. “He’s just going to be working through that, and we’ll see where he’s at here as he goes. He’s still working on getting healthy.”

The Bears need a healthy Burton next season — if he’s to remain with the club. If Chicago were to release Burton, it would result in $7.5 million in dead money, which isn’t exactly ideal.

Tight end is definitely a position that general manager Ryan Pace will look to shore up this offseason. Between Burton and Adam Shaheen’s ineffectiveness, it’s a concern for a Nagy offense that leans heavily on an effective tight end.

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Should Bears trade for QB Andy Dalton this offseason?

With QB Mitchell Trubisky’s future in question, could the Bears trade for an experienced veteran like Bengals QB Andy Dalton?

There’s still one game remaining in what’s been a disappointing season for the Bears, but thoughts have turned to the offseason, where Chicago will have plenty of questions to answer.

But the most important question surrounds the quarterback position and how the Bears will address it.

Mitchell Trubisky has struggled immensely this season, although the entire offense has been bad. But in his third season, Trubisky has yet to show that he can be a consistent quarterback for this franchise.

Trubisky will surely remain on Chicago’s roster in 2020, but they’re also likely to bring in competition for Trubisky this offseason. They can do that through free agency, where there will be some options, the NFL Draft or even the trade market.

According to Bleacher Report, the Bears should trade for Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton this offseason.

The Bears would be contenders were it not for the sporadic play of Mitchell Trubisky, who has thrown just 17 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions during a 7-8 season. Three seasons after they drafted Trubisky second overall, the Bears could use a veteran who can play off their elite defense to make a serious postseason push.

The Bears are an offense away from being championship contender, and that starts with the quarterback. While the Bears were able to win the NFC North last season, that was due in large part to their defense playing lights out football.

While it would be silly for the Bears to give up on Trubisky after just three seasons, they can’t afford another wasted season with this defense. Chicago could follow the Titans model, where they had Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill on the roster. When Mariota continued to struggle, they replaced him with Tannehill and have found success on offense. Tannehill might even be looking at a contract extension with Tennessee after his season.

It’s not a question if the Bears will bring in another quarterback — or quarterbacks — it’s just a matter of who. And Dalton makes plenty of sense for the Bears.

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Should the Bears pick up QB Mitchell Trubisky’s fifth-year option?

One NFL analyst believes that QB Mitchell Trubisky has done enough that the Bears should exercise his fifth-year option.

The Chicago Bears will have plenty of questions to answer this offseason, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But the one question that’s most important centers on the quarterback:

Is Mitchell Trubisky the quarterback of the future in Chicago?

Many critics, analysts and fans already have their minds made up. Whether it’s an overwhelming “Mitch isn’t the guy,” or “Give him time, he’ll be fine.”

But the simple fact of the matter is that we really don’t know. Considering everything that’s happened over the course of these last three years, I’d lean more towards the former.

Rest assured Trubisky will be back in 2020 in his fourth season with the Bears. But will they pick up Trubisky’s fifth-year option? NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt certainly believes so.

After a disastrous first half of the season, Trubisky has shown enough promise lately to remain Chicago’s starting quarterback entering the 2020 season. For that reason, it’s worth locking him in for 2021. But given the prices quarterbacks demand, I’d wait to take the plunge on a commitment that lasts any longer until Trubisky can show more consistency.

If the Bears pick up Trubisky’s fifth-year option, they’d be committing roughly $25 million to a quarterback that hasn’t proven he can be a consistent player in this league.

The Bears are likely going to exercise Trubisky’s fifth-year option, as there’s only really a guarantee for injury. They would have until the start of the league year in his fifth season to cut him if he doesn’t pan out. Although teams rarely release a player before the full guarantee takes effect.

Teams can start exercising the fifth-year options beginning December 30 and have until May 30, 2020 to make their decision.

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Mitchell Trubisky believes he can be a consistent QB

The one overwhelming knock against Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky has been his inability to be a consistent passer. Can he change that?

The one overwhelming knock against Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has been his inability to be a consistent quarterback.

Look no further than this season, where Trubisky strung together six solid games, including two really impressive games against the Lions and Cowboys in Weeks 13 and 14. The following two weeks, he reverted back to his early-season self where his performance was defined by poor decision-making and inaccuracy.

But despite his struggles this season, Trubisky believes that he can be a consistent quarterback for the Bears.

“The consistency hasn’t been there,” Trubisky said. “I feel like I can be a lot more consistent quarterback in the future… I gotta be better.”

Trubisky knows it. Matt Nagy knows it. Ryan Pace knows it. Bears fans know it.

Mitchell Trubisky has to be better. But can he be?

Actions speak louder than words, and Trubisky needs to show that he can be a consistently productive quarterback for the Bears. If not, the Bears will likely part ways after next season.

Expect Pace to bring in veteran competition for Trubisky this offseason, as well as look to the NFL Draft for a solution. This season, Trubisky was granted leniency with his inconsistent performance if only because backup Chase Daniel really doesn’t give the Bears a better chance to win.

That’s a mistake the Bears won’t make next season. Look for them to do something similar to what the Titans did with Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill this season. After Mariota’s struggles proved detrimental to the team’s success, they benched him in favor of Tannehill, who has breathed new life into Tennessee’s offense and he might’ve earned himself a contract extension.

If Trubisky replicates his inconsistent performance next season, the Bears shouldn’t hesitate to replace him — especially as the Bears’ Super Bowl window continues to close.

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Are there changes coming to Bears’ offensive coaching staff in 2020?

Considering the struggles of the offense, Bears OC Mark Helfrich wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a coaching staff shakeup in the offseason.

When an NFL team goes from a 12-win season to .500 or worse the following year, that’s usually an indication that big changes are coming.

That’s what’s expected with the Chicago Bears, whose fall from grace was well-documented this season. General manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy should be safe, but the same can’t be said for some members of the coaching staff.

When offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was asked if he was concerned that there would be a coaching shakeup on offense this offseason, he acknowledged that it was a possibility.

“When you’re in this business, stuff happens,” he said. “And that’s a possibility.”

The Bears’ failures in 2019 can be traced back to the offense, whose regression has been the single-most impactful element in Chicago’s decline this season. So if there are changes coming, it makes sense for them to happen on the offensive side of the ball.

Chicago’s offense has been one of the worst in the league this season — they rank 29th in yards per game (294.1) and 30th in points per game (17.3), ahead of only the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Not in Year 2 of Matt Nagy’s offense. Not with a young quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky that was supposed to take a step forward. Not with a group that just had to be “good enough” for their championship-caliber defense.

As Nagy has vowed to do whatever it takes to fix this ailing offense, that could lead to staffing turnover.

“That’s a part of my job as a head coach, is to make sure that I look at all silos,” Nagy said. “Whatever that is, I need to make sure that I do that. And it’s hard right now when you’re in the middle of everything, to be able to come to emotional decisions either way — players, coaches, etc. But that’s something that we handle when the time comes.”

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Matt Nagy focused on fixing Bears offense this offseason

This season was supposed to the year Matt Nagy’s offense took a step forward. Instead, Nagy will focus on fixing the Bears’ inept offense.

As the Chicago Bears prepare for their final game of what’s been a disappointing season, there’s one question that looms larger than any other: How are the Bears going to fix their inept offense?

This season was supposed to the year Matt Nagy’s offense took a step forward. But instead of graduating to Football 202, they’ve regressed in deeply concerning ways.

Whether it’s quarterback, the offensive line, the run game, the tight ends or the play calling, there are a lot of issues facing Nagy as he tries to right the ship on offense.

“It’s very obvious that the offensive side of the ball is something that is going to be very, very important to me to get right,” Nagy said. “It’s plain and simple.”

While there’s constant conversation between Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace, that conversation is going to kick into overdrive as the Bears prepare for an early offseason.

The Bears can’t afford to waste this championship-caliber defense, and there needs to be a concerted effort this offseason to fix this offense. Luckily, Nagy says that there’s zero ego when it comes to discussing the issues at hand.

“In my very first interaction with Ryan, with George [McCaskey] and with Ted [Phillips], I felt that between all of us we were all able to have honest conversations and be real,” Nagy said. “And there’s zero egos.

“So when you have that and you get into these type of situations that we’re in right now, when there’s a lot of decisions that go on because we want to look for solutions, we put all the egos aside and we have honest discussions. And we talk through everything and for what’s best for the Chicago Bears and the football team. That’s what we’re going to do.”

There are no shortage of issues on offense for Nagy and Pace to address this offseason. But that’s going to mean some honest evaluations of players and themselves.

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Christmas Wishes: 6 things we’d like to see for the Bears in 2020

We’d like to think that we’ve been good boys and girls this year, so we’re asking Santa to help our Chicago Bears out in 2020.

With the holidays upon it, the NFL’s regular season is about to wrap up as 12 teams prepare for the postseason. The Chicago Bears are not one of those teams.

After a disappointing 2019 season, one that was once ripe with expectations, they’ll be headed into an early hibernation with many questions to be answered.

So in the holiday spirit, here are six things we’re asking Santa for the Bears as they head into 2020:

1. Efficient offensive play calling

The responsibility of the offense starts with head coach/play caller Matt Nagy, who wasn’t able to take his offense to the next step in the second year of his offense. While a large part of the offense’s struggles were execution, it trickled down to the play caller who didn’t seem to put them in a position to execute.

Whether Nagy has to step down as offensive play caller or he takes this offseason to do some self reflecting about his role in the offense’s woes, the Bears need a competent play caller to make this offense run in 2020.

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While Bears offense needs plenty of fixing, same can’t be said of defense

In their first season under DC Chuck Pagano, the Bears defense has found success. They’ll be looking to build off that in 2020.

While the Chicago Bears will have plenty to fix on offense this offseason, the same won’t be said for the defense, which is concluding its first season under new defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano.

Much like the offense did this past offseason, the Bears defense will be relying on continuity in order to take the next step in 2020 — something that Chicago’s offense failed to do this season.

“It’s very obvious that the offensive side of the ball is something that is going to be very, very important to me to get right,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “It’s plain and simple. So that’s going to be that. And when I say me, I mean all of us, staff and obviously [general manager] Ryan [Pace]. So that’s going to be a focus.

“Chuck and his staff will be doing what they need to do to figure out, OK, just like us last year on offense — where we obviously didn’t figure out the right way — but finding out what you do well and what you don’t do well.’”

When Vic Fangio left to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos, the Bears’ vacant defensive coordinator position was an attractive job for inquiring defensive minds. But given the success the Bears defense had in 2018 — where they ranked at or near the top in most defensive statistical categories — regression was going to be expected because of the sheer amount of success they had the previous year.

“It’s not easy, No. 1,” Nagy said. “It’s never easy following up the amount of success that we had here the previous year. And with the players that are on this defense. As enticing and sexy as it was to be the next defensive coordinator here with this team, there’s also extreme responsibility and accountability to walking into that.”

The Bears defense found success in its first season under Pagano, where they’ve allowed the fifth fewest points in the NFL this season with 18.6. But they’ve been ravaged with injuries, and they haven’t been as effective in producing takeaways, something they thrived off last season.

But with an offseason to continue to learn under Pagano, the Bears defense will be looking to build off the success they’ve had in 2019. It certainly helps that their defense will look pretty similar to this year’s. The only players whose contracts are up are linebacker Danny Trevathan and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, although that doesn’t mean others are safe as general manager Ryan Pace will need to create some salary cap space.

“I know things take time to adapt for the players — and for the coaches to learn the players and the players to learn the coaches …” Nagy said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how much that improves next year when it’s so much easier walking into OTAs and training camp knowing what they didn’t know at this time last year.”

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