The Chicago Bears didn’t have the 2018 debut they’d hoped for in Green Bay. After a strong start building a 20-0 lead, they gave up 21 points in the 4th quarter to fall 24-23. It was a proper “Welcome to the NFL” moment for new head coach Matt Nagy. A reminder that his comfy days as an offensive coordinator are over.
However, the backlash against him for the defeat has seemed a bit excessive. Many Bears fans have already gone on record saying he’s going to be a bust. Really? After one game? On the road? Against a divisional opponent with a Hall of Fame quarterback? That doesn’t sound fair.
Sure Nagy made some mistakes, most notably in regards to his game management in the second half and his play calling on offense. He even admitted as much after the game. It’s easy to forget the man is 39-years old and is a rookie at this job. This is a learning experience he has to work through.
Matt Nagy isn’t the first Reid guy to experience this sort of thing
In order to get a sense of where Nagy is at, I decided to compare his debute with other notable Andy Reid disciples over the years. Not to mention Reid himself. The results were rather interesting. Four names won their first game. Four did not. All names listed made the playoffs at least once. Two of the other three coaches besides Nagy who lost reached the Super Bowl. Nagy was just the second to face a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
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- Matt Nagy at Green Bay – Lost 24-23
- Andy Reid vs. Arizona – Lost 25-24 (Cardinals finished 6-10)
- Ron Rivera at Arizona – Lost 28-21 (Cardinals finished 8-8)
- Sean McDermott vs. Jets – Won 21-12 (Jets finished 5-11)
- Doug Pederson vs. Cleveland – Won 29-10 (Browns finished 1-15)
- John Harbaugh vs. Cincinnati – Won 17-10 (Bengals finished 4-11-1)
- Brad Childress at Washington – Won 19-16 (Redskins finished 5-11)
- Leslie Frazier at New Orleans – Lost 14-9 (Saints finished 11-5)
A few noteworthy things here. Frazier had the toughest debut by far of any of the coaches listed, playing the eventual playoff participant Saints in the Superdome. Here’s another. All the coaches who lost their debuts? They all did so giving up second half leads.
Frazier’s Vikings were up 9-7 at the start of the third quarter before Drew Brees hit a touchdown midway through to put New Orleans up for good. Rivera’s Panthers led 21-14 when the 4th quarter began but gave up 14 points in the final minutes. Reid? His was the worst of all. Philadelphia jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. By the end of the game, they had given up 25 points in the final three quarters to lose.
Did those losses ultimately kill their careers?
Nope. After going 5-11 his first year, Reid made the playoffs the next five years including four NFC championships and a Super Bowl. Rivera finished 6-10 that year but his team steadily improved and by Year 3 they were in the playoffs. He’s since made it four times in the past five years with a Super Bowl appearance.
The point of this is it’s unwise to pass judgment on Nagy after one game. He should’ve won but the loss cannot and should not be used as a barometer for whether or not he’ll be a failure. Like Reid, Rivera and the others, this is a learning experience. One could argue he endured the toughest debut of them all. A divisional rival on the road against a Hall of Fame quarterback?
That’s like starting a video game you’ve never played before on Insanity difficulty. There were going to be hiccups this year but there will also be better days. The best thing Bears fans can do is let the man work.
