It’s one thing to hear fans and casual media call something bad. When actual former players start doing the same? That is when it is time to take notice. Dan Orlovsky has been the most outspoken critic of Matt Nagy and his “offense” going back a number of years. However, he isn’t the only former quarterback in that camp. Sage Rosenfels hasn’t been shy about sharing his blunt opinions on the subject.
Rosenfels spent a decade in the NFL. During that time he played for guys like Gary Kubiak, Darrell Bevell, and Kevin McBride. He’s seen what good offenses are supposed to look like. So one can only imagine his thoughts when watching Nagy’s system. One that is ranked worst in most categories so far this season and has never been higher than 21st since he arrived in 2018. When he had a chance to speak on Bernstein & Rahimi for 670 The Score?
He didn’t hold back his assessment.
“It is a huge mess watching this offense. I’m just going through my notes from drive one to drive two to drive three. There’s a couple of plays on each drive where they’re like, ‘Ugh. That’s a terrible route combination for that coverage. You’re trying to throw a slant against Cover 4. That is probably the worst coverage to throw that play into. But the Bears are doing it.
You’re seeing Cover 2. The Bears decide they’re going to max protect and block with seven guys. They got three guys out on a route against seven guys defensively. Of course, there’s nobody that’s going to be open.
You have a play where they (the Browns) are going 5-man double A-gaps. Of course, Jason Peters has to squeeze down on that linebacker over the center (who) blitzes. Now you got Myles Garrett running free and he looks like an idiot out there. You’re leaving one of the best players on defense in the NFL completely unblocked and it’s really not Jason Peters’ fault. They called a 5-man protection.
So it is a litany of problems. A slew of debauchery out there. It’s very hard to watch.”
It is one thing to watch this offense on Sundays.
When somebody gives a breakdown of exactly how inept Nagy is at exploiting coverages or helping out his offensive line with extra blockers? That is when it really settles in. Even as far back as January fans sensed how big of a mistake George McCaskey was making when he elected to keep Nagy. He cited character, resilience, and leadership as the primary reasons for doing so. That doesn’t matter much if you can’t score points.
Nagy can’t do that. Not unless he’s facing one of the worst teams in the NFL. Every time he has run into a credible opponent, his offense struggles. The moment he took back play calling a few months ago, people knew things were going to get worse. The Bears have 33 points in three games. Their prized rookie QB was just sacked nine times in his first start. Good coaches have solutions. Nagy had none.
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A good offensive coordinator needs an average line to have a really good offense.
A bad OC needs a great line to have an average offense.
Quit blaming the line and QBs in Chicago. Their coaches don’t give them a chance and they haven’t for 4 years. I’ve watched every snap.
— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18) September 27, 2021
Matt Nagy is walking a razor-thin line right now
Before the start of the season, people were convinced that Nagy was safe for the next two years. All he had to do was avoid two things. The team losing too many games and Fields looking bad whenever he ended up playing. Now the Bears are 1-2 with both losses being blowouts. Fields has one of the worst passer ratings in the NFL and has been sacked 11 times already.
That is the absolute worst-case scenario. Now the Bears face a must-win situation in Detroit. If they lose, they go 1-3 with Las Vegas, Green Bay, and Tampa Bay on deck. It would not be a shock to see this team emerge 1-6 by the end of that. If Fields is still struggling on top of it? One can safely assume Matt Nagy won’t be returning as head coach next year. In truth, he only has himself to blame.
He always talks about self-scouting and being honest about things.
The man saw things weren’t working last season. So he gave up play calling. Sure enough the team rebounded and they made the playoffs. His takeaway from that? I could’ve done that if I’d only had the right quarterbacks. Now he has two handpicked guys in Fields and Andy Dalton. Nothing has changed. The entire system is broken and has been for years.
