Nagy's the Probllem

 

September 27, 2021

The Cleveland Browns are one of the better teams in the NFL. They have a very potent offense and pretty good defense. Then again, every defense looks good facing the Bears. I was excited to see rookie Justin Fields make his first start at quarterback. However, thanks to his coach, the offense showed no life. The Bears defense kept them in the game trailing only 10-3 at halftime.  Ultimately, the Browns got their act together outscoring the Bears 16-3 cruising to an easy 26-6 victory.

The Bears have reached a historic all-time low. While Nagy’s offense rarely scores twenty points, yesterday they managed only two measly field goals. After the game Nagy said he will watch the tape and see what went wrong and why. Echoing the sentiments of Dave Kaplan and crew on the post-game show, if you want to know why things went bad, look in the mirror. The Browns turned the ball over on downs when Browns QB Baker Mayfield was sacked. On the Bears first play David Montgomery ran for 16 yards, setting up a Bear field goal. The Bears would run 43 more plays for a total of 31 yards.

Nagy’s play calling didn’t give Fields a chance to succeed. There were no roll-outs, bootlegs or play action. He never called a screen pass, which if executed properly may have slowed the Browns pass rush. Instead he tried to make Fields execute his offense which hasn’t worked since he got here. It pisses me off that the Bears brought him back after two eight win seasons.

With Fields in the pocket, the Browns had nine sacks. Thirty-nine year old Jason Peters looked like an old man. He was being beaten at the line of scrimmage, allowing Miles Garrett to set a Browns record with 4 ½ sacks. Germain Ifedi was just as bad. Nagy did not make any adjustments. It’s imperative you protect your franchise QB. God forbid Nagy would change his offense to provide Fields some protection. Fields was getting creamed and Nagy did nothing about it.

Even though they might be the worst tackling team, I am going to cut the defense some slack. They played a very good first half. They stopped a very good team from running the ball. They also pressured Mayfield.  Robert Quinn, who is having a bounce back season had two sacks. Khalil Mack, battling injuries, also had two sacks. They stopped the Browns on two fourth down and short yardage situations with sacks. The problem is, with the offense continually going three and out, the defense was on the field for 40 minutes.

The biggest problem with the Bears is Matt Nagy.  He was brought in to rejuvenate the offense and has failed miserably. They average 18 points per game. He failed in developing Mitch Trubisky. Therefore, I am worried he will ruin Fields. I know it is wishful thinking, but Nagy has to be let go before the season is totally lost. Fields will never be the QB they envisioned as long as Nagy is his coach.