Nagy on Bears’ O: ‘We know where the warts are’
The issue is not that Nagy’s offense isn’t playing at a fantasy world level, but that it isn’t even close. The Bears averaged 2.5 yards per carry against a defense that ranked 31st in rushing yards allowed.
Asked about an offensive line that seems to be the crux of the Bears’ offensive problems — by the eye-test, film review or under an electron microscope — coach Matt Nagy wasn’t about to go there.
“We know across the board on offense right now there are different things we can get better at,” Nagy said. “And that’s everybody, myself included. I saw what Nick [Foles] said, ‘Would you rather win ugly or lose pretty?’ I think that kind of sums it up there.”
Nagy toggled between acknowledging two realities in his day-after press conference Monday following a 23-16 victory over the Panthers in Charlotte — the Bears are 5-1; and his offense needs a ton of work. The Bears lead the NFC North and are tied for the fourth-best record in the NFL. But they had just 261 yards of total offense against the Panthers, with an average of 4.1 yards per play — ominous numbers with with the Rams (4-2), Saints (3-2) and Titans (5-0) up next.
But 10 days after publicly criticizing his team after a victory over the Buccaneers, Nagy wasn’t in the mood to dwell on the negative.
“I believe there is something special here with these players and … with the coaches,” Nagy said. “Even though it’s not that fantasy world that everyone wants on offense, it’s not that — what it is is winning. It’s winning football. That’s pretty cool when you think about it.”
The Bears’ issue, though, is not that Nagy’s offense isn’t playing at a fantasy world level, but that it isn’t even close. The Bears rushed for 63 yards and averaged 2.5 yards per carry against a Carolina defense that ranked 25th in rushing yards allowed and 31st in yards per carry. The Bears needed three tries to score from the 1-yard line — and had to resort to a Foles sneak to do it.
Not only that, but the offense doesn’t show many signs of getting there. In his third consecutive start, Foles threw for a meager 198 yards and a season-low 5.1 yards per attempt — the second lowest average-per-attempt in a victory in the NFL this season.
In back-to-back games, Foles has made throws that got Mitch Trubisky benched. He missed an open Darnell Mooney downfield against the Buccaneers. On Sunday, an ill-advised pass under pressure was picked off by Jeremy Chinn, the rookie linebacker from Southern Illinois.
In both instances, poor protection played a role, especially on the interception. Panthers seventh-round rookie defensive tackle Derrick Brown beat guard Rashaad Coward and Zach Kerr — a fill-in for injured starter Kawann Short — appeared to beat both guard Germain Ifedi and center Cody Whitehair to force Foles into a bad decision.
So many of the Bears’ ills on offense can be traced back to the line. But there’s not a lot Nagy can do it about it but lump the line in with everybody else and try to mitigate the problem — rollouts to give Foles more time to throw; swing passes for running-play yardage; no-huddle plays to create the missing offensive rhythm. Anything to find a groove.
“We’re 5-1 right now, and we’re not playing well offensively,” Nagy said. “So when we do get this thing up and running — which we will — it’s going to be fun. We understand where the warts are on offense. We get that. But we’re going to continue to stay positive … because we know where we’re at and where we’re going.”
As much as Nagy has done to create the cherished culture at Halas Hall, it remains to be seen if he has the power to get the offense to the promised land. A week after he publicly admonished his team about details, the Bears had notable lapses in detail and focus on both sides of the ball against the Panthers — a delay-of-game penalty after a time out; 12 men in the huddle twice on defense; Anthony Miller losing a first down trying to get extra yards.
So at 5-1, Nagy has every right to accentuate the positive. The Bears are a playoff team in this year’s NFL. But six games into his third season, the challenge is the same as when he arrived: He doesn’t have to fix this offense — he has to establish it in the first place.