Chicago Bears: Until Matt Nagy is fired, we can’t critique Justin Fields

Week 7 saw a disastrous performance by the Chicago Bears, as Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routed them, 38-3.

Tampa Bay got off to a fast start, going up 21-0 in the first quarter. From there, these Bears simply weren’t built to play catchup — especially under an offense which seems figured out by many.

Head coach Matt Nagy has now been in Chicago for almost four seasons, and his offense continues to rank near the bottom of the league. Yet, he is still preaching after every embarrassment that he’s confident in his team and in his offense.

When will this same old, same old finally reach its end? Nagy has had his shot with several quarterbacks now, and at this point, we can reach the fact that his offense is, quite frankly, not good. It’s now affecting the Bears’ best shot at a franchise quarterback that they have had in decades, too.

Chicago Bears rookie Justin Fields underwhelmed in Week 7, but can’t be intelligently critiqued until Matt Nagy is gone.

With Nagy in Chicago, the entire offense suffers. If fans and color commentators notice it, it’s far too obvious.

During the Bucs and Bears broadcast, Jim Nantz pointed out something very simple in regards to what was happening to Fields:

“Look at how much time he (Brady) has back there. Imagine if Fields had time to go through his progressions,” Nantz said.

The Bears’ offensive line was atrocious, and that can be squarely attributed to Ryan Pace’s failures — which is another story altogether.

Even after a few drives, knowing Fields is without protection, Nagy continued to drop his rookie quarterback in the pocket while receivers were running longer routes — and weren’t getting open.

This is a pretty clear thread as to what’s happened with Nagy’s offense over the years:

If anything, Nagy should have been calling quicker, easier passes with the way Fields was running for his life.

Yet, Nagy didn’t adjust — as per the usual.

Fields ended the day with three picks and two fumbles, which is a terrible performance, no matter if he’s a rookie. But, if we’re being fair and looking at the complete body of work by Nagy and his stale, predictable offense, it’s very difficult to judge Fields.

One particular explanation of a play early in the game gave us all plenty of laughs when it comes to this coaching staff.

In his postgame press conference, Fields said he was told through his headset that they were looking at 12 men on the field when he threw that first interception. He was told it was a free play — by his coaching staff.

Either Fields is lying or his coaching staff cannot count to the number 12. This is absolute hilarity at this point.

Re-watching this game, I notice just how bad Fields has it. The offensive line is bad, sure, but receivers simply aren’t getting open. Fields isn’t getting any help — from anybody. The only other player on the field who gave Fields any help whatsoever? It was fellow rookie Khalil Herbert, who continued running the ball effectively.

Real quick, think back to Josh Allen’s rookie year. People said a lot about him and what weaknesses he had. Then, Brian Daboll took Allen and made him into one of the league’s brightest young stars. In the right offense, with players getting schemed open and manufactured touches, Allen flourished.

Until Nagy is gone, we can’t fairly critique Fields. In fact, a lot of us may have been partially wrong on Mitchell Trubisky. Was he really that bad? Maybe. But, was he as bad as we thought? Maybe not.

Nagy’s offense has become the laughing stock of the NFL, and Fields is now just a puppet in this catastrophe. Hopefully, Nagy is gone by the end of this season at the latest, and Fields gets a capable offensive staff by his side going forward.