Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy’s play calling needs to be taken away

The Chicago Bears need to take play-calling away from Matt Nagy.

The Chicago Bears went into Monday with a 5-1 record and a chance to solidify their current position as the number one seed in the NFC. It is hard to critique a team that has been that successful through six weeks but they were bad on Monday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams and the questions will be plentiful. It was a game where the defense outscored (seven points) the offense (three points) so it seems like there needs to be a big change.

Some people want Matt Nagy gone. It is fair to feel this way, maybe, but it just isn’t happening. He has transformed the locker room and doesn’t have too bad of a coaching record since coming to the Chicago Bears. The big issue for him is his offensive play calling and it was even more apparent during this Rams game than usual.

Cordarrelle Patterson gets handed the ball way too much. They don’t run the ball enough and haven’t for a long time but when they do they are handing it off to the wrong guy. Why did they trade up to draft David Montgomery if they aren’t going to use him? It is clear that they don’t see him as “the guy” but he is probably better at running the ball than any other option they have.

Cole Kmet made a brilliant catch early in the football game and that was about all we saw from him for the rest of the game. He seems to be a pretty good tight end but they don’t use him. Nick Foles passes the ball too much (and Mitchell Trubisky before him) but neither are good enough to be the main offensive force on the team. They really need to be more balanced between the run game and pass game.

Matt Nagy doesn’t deserve to be the offensive play-caller anymore. Whether the offensive line is the problem or not, he doesn’t adjust. Some of the play calls during the third and fourth quarters were very questionable and it makes you wonder if the offense is bad because of him. Well, the offensive line can be bad and the coach is a bad play-caller. Two things can be true.

Think about a team like the Kansas City Chiefs. That team is the defending Super Bowl Champion and their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, might be the most talented quarterback to ever step on a football field. Even though they have that generational talent slinging the football, they also have a fantastic run game. They will run the ball a good amount in every game to help their team win. The Bears don’t have a quarterback half as good as Mahomes yet they can’t be bothered to run the ball.

Again, Nagy has built a culture around the Bears that should make you feel good about the organization in that way. They have a winning attitude and win a lot of games but it doesn’t feel like a team that can get it done in the long term. It would certainly be more fun to see them try their hand with someone else calling the offensive plays.