Nobody knew what the Chicago Bears were going to do going into the season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. The picture was clear enough. The Bears did have a chance at the #2 seed but it was a remote one given the Los Angeles Rams would have to lose to the 49ers at home. The likelihood of that happening wasn’t good. So the incentives outside of just wanting to win another game weren’t strong. Except to Matt Nagy.
The head coach who has worked magic with this team all year may have concluded his best work to date. Facing a desperate Vikings team that needed a win to make the playoffs, the Bears came out strong and controlled the game from wire to wire. They scored on their first possession and never really seemed out of control after that.
Still, despite nursing a 13-3 advantage at the half most people thought Nagy would decide to pull his starters. The point had been proven. They’d dominated Minnesota for 30 minutes and the Rams were crushing the 49ers by multiple touchdowns. It made sense to sit the starters at that point, right?
Maybe to somebody else it would’ve. Not him.
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#Bears coach Matt Nagy did confirm that @ErinAndrews "broke the news to me" about the Rams' score against the 49ers.
"I love winning. I think it's fun to win. When you win, whoever it is — who cares? — let's just play ball. That's what we're going to do."
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) December 31, 2018
Matt Nagy proved he didn’t need special circumstances to win a game
Keep in mind what Nagy has done. He turned a 5-11 football team into one that finished 12-4 including a 7-1 record at home and a 5-1 record against the NFC North. He broke the Packers’ undefeated streak at Soldier Field that had gone on for eight years. Then he got them through three games in a 12-day stretch going 3-0. Yet amazingly this game may have been his best coaching feat to date.
He went into a building the Bears hadn’t won a game in since 2011 against a desperate opponent and without two key players in Allen Robinson and Eddie Jackson. Everything suggested the Bears had no business winning the game because apparently, players can’t do so unless they have a certain amount of incentive.
Isn’t wanting to win enough? It is for Nagy and the Bears players proved it is for them as well. This team showed they are not the type to lay down when they’re not given a good enough reason to play hard. They goo 100 mph every game, every series, and every snap. That’s why they’re winners now and their head coach is a big reason for this change in mindset.
