People have learned for 17 years now that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are hard to beat. They haven’t lost more than four games in a season since 2009. That was nine years ago. Teams must play a near-perfect game to pull it off. The Chicago Bears failed to do so in a fun, frustrating, and wild day at Soldier Field. Amidst it all, Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky took some valuable lessons from the masters.
Belichick has a reputation stretching back decades on an ability to make like difficult for a young quarterback and a creative offensive coach. That was on display in this game. The Patriots defense had a good game plan. They smothered the outside receivers and managed to get frequent heat on the pass pocket, making Trubisky uncomfortable.
As a result, he connected on just 26 of 50 passes. Though he did throw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, he also threw two costly interceptions and almost had two others. It was quite a learning experience of what going against a top-coached defense can look like. The type he’s certain to see in the playoffs if and when he gets there.
Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky were taught execution
The bigger mismatch was between Belichick and Nagy though. It was painfully apparent at times during the game that the longtime future Hall of Famer was a step or two ahead of the Bears coach. This should be a surprise. Belichick has been a head coach for almost three decades. Nagy has been a coach period for just 10 years. The experience gap is beyond wide and it showed.
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New England proved that winning is a complete team effort. They put pressure on the Bears from all sides on offense, defense, and especially special teams. Chicago, who had been good in the third phase all year, allowed two inexplicable touchdowns that proved to be the difference in the game.
This is why the Patriots are so tough to beat. When one unit might not have it, the others step up to provide an assist. That’s something the Bears haven’t yet learned how to figure out. Instead it was a three-phase collapse for them. What makes it more frustrating is they played so poorly and still only lost by seven, coming one yard away from forcing overtime.
Nagy hasn’t yet found the right formula to get his team to play with more discipline. Heart? Absolutely. The Bears never lack fight. The issue is playing well without the mistakes. Something Belichick and Brady mastered many years ago. At some point things should start to click for Nagy and Trubisky if they keep working hard and learning.