For weeks now it has felt like a rift has formed between Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace. It started back before the Baltimore Ravens game when Pace showered praise on all the young players the Chicago Bears had while refusing to mention the head coach at all. Then his good friend Tony Romo did the same during the broadcast. In response, Nagy seems to have made it his mission to play said young players as little as possible.
Considering the team is eliminated from playoff contention, one would think the sensible thing to do is get the rookies onto the field for some experience. Outside of situations of absolute necessity, Nagy hasn’t done that. Sunday against the New York Giants was yet another example. It was almost egregious.
- Khalil Herbert – 9 snaps
- Teven Jenkins – 7 snaps
- Thomas Graham Jr. – 4 snaps
- Khyiris Tonga – 1 snap
- Dazz Newsome – 0 snaps
Bears snap counts from Sunday’s win pic.twitter.com/JqbjdKR9dz
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 3, 2022
The Jenkins and Graham numbers are especially notable.
Jason Peters is 39-years old. His Hall of Fame enshrinement is assured. He suffered a high-ankle sprain just two weeks ago. There was absolutely zero point in playing him over Jenkins, a 2nd round pick that desperately needed those snaps to continue gaining experience at a position he’s still unfamiliar with. As for Graham, he was playing some good football the past two weeks. Yet the Bears still felt playing Kindle Vildor over him was the best play. A corner who has allowed six touchdowns this season. Not to mention Artie Burns who is a free agent in March.
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Newsome? He has a 28-yard punt return and a nice catch for a first down last week. Can’t even get in the game. Instead, guys like Damiere Byrd and Marquise Goodwin get the nod. They combined for two catches for 27 yards and zero punt returns. Another wasted opportunity because the head coach didn’t really care.
Matt Nagy went out like just another me-first guy
He was more interested in scraping up a meaningless win than doing what was right for the Bears. Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian had a great story about the 1985 draft. He was GM of the Buffalo Bills at the time. They had a mountain of draft picks but were coming off a 2-14 season. He wondered if the best thing to do was trade them for proven pro players to see if they could engineer a quick turnaround. Bills head coach Kay Stephenson gave an answer he never forgot.
The Bills ended up drafting not one but two Hall of Famers that year in Bruce Smith and Andre Reed. They also secured Frank Reich at quarterback, arguably the greatest backup in NFL history. Both Smith and Reed played well as rookies and most importantly played often. In the end, the Bills again went 2-14 and Stephenson was fired. However, he did the right thing.
That decision by him set the Bills up for immense success in the early ’90s.
Matt Nagy couldn’t be bothered with such forward-thinking ideas. He pushed Pace to trade up for Justin Fields in April and then refused to play him over Andy Dalton until given no other choice. This along with the lack of consistent work for Jenkins, Herbert, and Graham illustrates where his priorities are. He talks a lot about doing what’s best for the Bears. It was really about doing what is best for himself.
