Tag: Bill Lazor

Here’s what happens if Bears coordinators can’t coach Monday night vs. Vikings

Bears HC Matt Nagy said there was a plan in place assuming that OC Bill Lazor, DC Sean Desai and STC Chris Tabor aren’t able to coach.

The Chicago Bears have been ravaged by COVID-19 this week, which has left a slew of players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, as well as all three coordinators, putting their status for Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in jeopardy.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy said there was a plan in place assuming that offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Sean Desai and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor won’t be able to coach Monday night.

If that’s the case, quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator John DeFilippo will serve as the offensive coordinator, senior defensive assistant Mike Pettine will be the defensive coordinator and assistant special teams coach Brian Ginn will handle special teams.

If DeFilippo is indeed assuming Lazor’s duties, that could indicate that DeFilippo might get a chance to call plays, which is something he did in the past with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2019) and Vikings (2018). But it also wouldn’t be a surprise if Nagy takes over play-calling duties.

Pettine spent the last three years as a defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers. He’s also been the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets (2009-12) and Buffalo Bills (2013).

Ginn, in his fourth year with the Bears, previously served as offensive quality control coach in 2018-19 before being promoted to assistant special teams coordinator.

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Bears fans aren’t loving the thought that Matt Nagy gets to call plays again

With Bill Lazor under COVID-19 protocols, Bears fans immediately came to the same conclusion: Matt Nagy will likely get to call plays again.

The Chicago Bears are among the NFL teams that have been hit hard by COVID-19, which has five players sidelined and three coaches. In fact, all three coordinators.

With offensive coordinator Bill Lazor under COVID protocols, his status for Monday night has been put in jeopardy. And almost immediately, Bears fans came to the same conclusion: head coach Matt Nagy will likely get to call plays again.

Nagy, who is most likely nearing the end of his Bears coaching tenure, handed over play-calling duties to Lazor back in Week 4 following an absolutely embarrassing outing against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3. It was the second time Nagy has handed over play calling in the last two seasons.

And, as you can imagine, Bears Twitter had plenty of reaction to the idea of Nagy likely getting to call plays on offense once again.

Bears coordinators Bill Lazor, Sean Desai, Chris Tabor all in COVID-19 protocols

The Bears are in the middle of another COVID-19 outbreak, where all three coordinators are in COVID protocols.

The Chicago Bears are in the midst of another COVID-19 outbreak within their team, as evidenced by the five players and now three coaches that have landed on the list.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy announced that offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Sean Desai and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor have all been placed in COVID-19 protocols, which means they’re not at Halas Hall.

Nagy said that all three coordinators will continue to participate via Zoom, which is how Nagy remained involved during his COVID-19 absence.

Obviously, this puts their statuses for Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in jeopardy. Nagy said he wasn’t sure whether or not Lazor, Desai or Tabor will return for the game. But Nagy insists there’s a plan in place.

“We’re prepared if they are, and we’re prepared if they’re not,” Nagy said.

Lazor, Desai, and Tabor join nose tackle Eddie Goldman, offensive tackle Larry Borom, defensive end Mario Edwards, cornerback Artie Burns and offensive tackle Lachavious Simmons on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Bears are one of seven teams that in enhanced protocols this week, which also includes the Vikings.

Nagy said that there are several players that are also battling non-COVID illnesses, including colds or flu.

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Bears HC Matt Nagy insists he wasn’t calling plays vs. Cardinals

The Bears had communication issues against the Cardinals, which led to Matt Nagy relaying Bill Lazor’s play calls to Andy Dalton.

The Chicago Bears dropped a disappointing 33-22 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, where a flurry of Chicago mistakes — including four Andy Dalton interceptions — gave Arizona a free win.

There were questions about whether head coach Matt Nagy had assumed play-calling duties during the game, as Nagy was seen on the sideline talking into a walkie talkie as a means to communicate with Dalton.

Nagy told reporters after the game that offensive coordinator Bill Lazor remains the play caller and that there were communication issues with the headset between Dalton and Lazor. Nagy said he was receiving the play calls from Lazor up in the booth and Nagy was conveying them to Dalton with his walkie talkie.

Nagy handed over play-calling duties to Lazor following a brutal Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns, where the offense looked to reach its lowest — at the time. It was the second time in two years Nagy surrendered play calling. And while it hasn’t been inspiring, it’s been better than Nagy.

Not that it mattered on Sunday, where Chicago’s offense helped gift-wrap a victory to the Cardinals, where four Dalton interceptions led to 23 points for Arizona.

It’s not just the play caller that’s the problem. It’s Nagy’s offense.

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Bears vs. 49ers recap: Everything we know about Chicago’s Week 8 loss

The Bears suffered another brutal 33-22 loss to the 49ers to drop them to 3-5 on the season. We recap the game.

After an embarrassing 35-point loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Chicago Bears couldn’t figure out a way to turn things around, and they’ve now lost three straight football games.

Though things looked better under Chris Tabor, the Bears still didn’t do enough to win, losing 33-22 to the San Francisco 49ers. This loss is the fifth loss of the season for the Bears, and all five losses were by 10 or more points.

Week 8 Power Rankings: Bears continue to fall after back-to-back losses

After losing two straight games, the Bears continue to trend in the wrong direction going into Week 8.

After losing back-to-back games, the Chicago Bears continue to slide in the power rankings much to the surprise of no one.

Some websites have kept the Bears in the same spot, as others have let them fall even further than where they were last week. Still, after a 38-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, things aren’t trending in the right direction.

Week 7 Power Rankings: Bears drop after frustrating Packers loss

Following a frustrating loss to the Packers, the Bears dropped several spots in the Week 7 power rankings.

The Chicago Bears are coming off a frustrating 24-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers, where Chicago dropped to 3-3 on the season. And there were implications among power rankings.

Heading into Week 7, the Bears dropped a little bit. Last week, they surprisingly were ranked as high as 13th in some power rankings. Now, they’ve fallen given Sunday’s loss to Green Bay.

Week 6 Power Rankings: Bears move up after upset win in Vegas

The Bears continued their trend of moving up in the power rankings after their upset win against the Raiders.

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For the first time in the 2021 NFL season, the Chicago Bears have won on the road. They were 2-0 at home and 0-2 on the road. Now, they are 1-2 on the road and have a winning record after five games.

After their upset win over the Las Vegas Raiders, there’s a little more confidence in this Bears team. They’ve moved all over the place in power rankings heading into a Week 6 matchup against the Green Bay Packers.

Shocker: Matt Nagy admitted giving up play-calling duties actually helped him

Matt Nagy handed over play-calling duties, and he liked it!

It’s been quite a bumpy ride for the Bears during the first four weeks of the 2021 NFL season, where head coach Matt Nagy has come under fire for some questionable decisions.

The Bears offense has looked the worst it has in all four years of Nagy’s tenure as head coach, which is the opposite of what was supposed to happen. Remember, it was supposed to take four years for this offense to really start jelling.

Instead, the Bears put up their worst offensive performance in 40 years, which prompted a change at play caller with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor taking over after Nagy threw rookie quarterback Justin Fields to the wolves in his first NFL start.

Maybe it’s damage control, or maybe it’s genuine. But Nagy actually admitted the benefit of handing over play-calling duties and how it allowed him to focus on his job as the head coach.

“During the game, it was the most connected I’ve felt to all three phases,” Nagy told reporters Wednesday. “It felt good.”

Well, that’s good news, considering there appears to be no going back from Lazor as play caller, especially with Fields now cemented as the starter moving forward.

Nagy has said in the past that he enjoys calling plays, but as many can attest to, he’s not very good. The best thing he could do was hand over play-calling duties and roll with his rookie quarterback, which finally happened.

While there was a belief that Nagy’s seat wasn’t as hot as many believed it to be at the start of the season, his handling of the Dalton-Fields situation and play-calling duties certainly appeared to change things.

Now, Nagy has finally seen the light and realized that there’s more benefit to developing the future of the franchise rather than fulfilling a promise to a veteran on a one-year deal. Especially if he wants to keep his job.

Stock up, stock down from Bears’ Week 4 win

We’re taking a look at which Bears players saw their stock rise and which players saw their stock dip in their Week 4 win.

The Chicago Bears recorded their second win of the season with a 24-14 victory over the Detroit Lions, where the offense finally found its rhythm behind David Montgomery, Justin Fields and new play caller Bill Lazor.

The Bears improved to 2-2 on the season heading into a six-game stretch that’s their most difficult of the season.

Now that the dust has settled, we’re taking a look at which players saw their stock rise and which players saw their stock dip during the win.