Matt Nagy was able to hide behind bad quarterback play. Then he was able to hide behind his great start to the season. It’s safe to say that he’s running out of places to hide now. In almost a carbon copy of last season, the New Orleans Saints systematically outcoached the Chicago Bears in key situations. All while making Nagy’s offense look entirely useless.
If anything this game was even worse. Chicago jumped out to a 13-3 lead at one point and had things well in hand. Then a stalled drive before the half and a questionable timeout led to the defense giving up a TD to end the second quarter. It was right around there when things really started to go off the rails.
In typical fashion, the 3rd quarter was a horror show.
Across four drives, the Bears had a punt, an interception, a punt, and a turnover on downs. All while Javon Wims got ejected for punching a Saints player twice. To say nothing of a laughable false start coming out of the end of the quarter. The lack of discipline from this offense can’t possibly seem to get worse and yet keeps finding ways to top itself.
Not convinced? How about when down 10 points in the 4th quarter, the Bears ran a drive that lasted over six minutes. Why? Maybe because Nagy called four running plays all while failing to initiate a hurry-up offense. The drive did end in a touchdown but left just 3:36 left on the clock. Another example of his poor understanding of time management.
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Somehow Matt Nagy topped himself just moments later
Despite having 1:51 to go from his own 32-yard line, Nagy conducted one of the most baffling drives of the season. One that spanned 14 plays and 49 (!) yards. It included a series of short passes and even a run. All while the time ticked away. All of it culminated in a 51-yard field goal attempt that had no business being that far away. Somehow Cairo Santos continued his terrific season by hitting it and forcing overtime.
Sadly the problems refused to go away. Foles took some brutal sacks in the extra period and both Anthony Miller and Jimmy Graham were responsible for a pair of ugly drops. Speaking again to the overall lack of discipline this entire offense plays with. This enabled the Saints to get one last drive which turned into the game-winning 35-yard field goal.
Nagy promised things would get better.
They’ve gotten worse. So much worse. He hasn’t been able to overcome a patchwork offensive line. Defenses are predicting almost everything he tries to call. He’s not putting his quarterback in the best position to succeed and worst of all he has no sense of clock management. The one thing he could hang his hat on to this point was leadership.
By the look of things, players aren’t tuning into him like they once were. A 5-1 start has now become 5-3 with the Tennessee Titans on deck. After that it’s the Minnesota Vikings who are fresh off a huge win in Green Bay. The way this offense is playing right now? They could be at .500 by the bye week.
Is Matt Nagy on the hot seat? He absolutely is.
