Matt Nagy had the offensive philosophy locked in by the end of the 2018 season. Over their final 10 games, they won nine. In those nine victories, they averaged running the ball 29.67 times per game. A steady, committed approach that ended up working out really well. It kept the defense fresh and allow Mitch Trubisky to do good work off play action. One of his strengths as a young quarterback.
Then? Something changed.
Things started off as expected against the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoff opener. On their first two offensive drives, the Bears ran the ball four times in 11 total plays. Not quite a balanced approach but not terrible. Then over their final nine drives of the game? They ran the ball just 14 more times. What makes it all the more baffling is that they weren’t being utterly smothered every time. Three of Jordan Howard’s first five runs of the game went for at least six yards.
There was enough validation there to stick with it. Instead? Nagy kept letting Trubisky throw. And throw. And throw. All despite the score never being separated by more than five points. This wasn’t the offense that the Bears head coach had used to get that team to the playoffs. In the end, they lost.
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Fast forward eight months and it was eerily more of the same.
Matt Nagy curiously abandoned the run vs. Packers
If people were to watch the Packers and Eagles games back to back, they’d see striking similarities. It was almost an exact replay for the Bears early. David Montgomery, their prized top draft choice, got five carries in the first quarter. He ran for 18 yards. Not including Trubisky scrambles, the Bears ran it eight times in that quarter. They would run it just four more times the rest of the entire game, marking the second-straight time Nagy willingly let the offense abandon the run when the score was separated by single digits.
This isn’t something that just cropped up either. It’s almost like when the stakes of a game get high, Nagy leans more and more on the quarterback. Remember that playoff loss against the Tennessee Titans he was criticized so heavily for as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator? On their first four offensive drives in that game, the Chiefs ran the ball eight times. They would then run it just eight more times on their final seven drives.
This isn’t an isolated incident.
Nagy is a quarterback at heart. His instincts when things get tight in a big game is to throw the football. That’s where he’s comfortable. The problem is it doesn’t always work that way in the NFL. It didn’t with Alex Smith and especially won’t with a young quarterback like Trubisky. He has to get back to what this offense did best last year.
