Matt Nagy’s play calling was superb against Seahawks

Matt Nagy’s superb play calling was a key reason the Chicago Bears defeated the Seattle Seahawks on Monday.

Matt Nagy received plenty of criticism both locally and nationally after his team blew a 20-point second half lead to the Green Bay Packers in week one.

Nagy was lambasted for going ultra-conservative in the second half and calling a game not to lose. He left the door open for Aaron Rodgers and he was quickly burned.

Nagy’s play calling was quite the opposite on Monday Night Football in week two. It may not have looked flashy, but it was brilliant.

Mitch Trubisky’s game didn’t look great vs Seattle. He was off on his deep throws and turned the ball over a couple of times and it became obvious rather quickly that Trubisky was not going to be able to stretch the defense with the deep ball, at least not on Monday night.

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That meant that Seattle could crowd the line of scrimmage and cause even more issues for the offense. But Nagy’s play calling overcame a struggling deep game for Chicago.

In the second half, with the Bears having a lead, Nagy needed to keep the chains moving to secure a victory. He was able to keep his offense on the field and his defense fresh, which kept Russell Wilson and Seattle at bay and secured the win.

It didn’t look flashy. Nagy kept the ball near the line of scrimmage. But in the second half he called the number of eight different players. Jordan Howard had his number called eight times. Allen Robinson was called upon five times. Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel were targeted four times a piece. Anthony Miller three times. Mitch Trubisky kept it on two different occasions and Tarik Cohen and even Josh Bellamy were targeted one time each.

The variety of targets kept Seattle’s defense guessing. They weren’t able to zero in on only Howard or Robinson. Any skill player that was on the field on any given play could have their number called.

Nagy’s plays weren’t going for 10 or 15 yards, but they were going steadily for three to six yards. Which was enough to keep Seattle’s defense on the field (The Bears won TOP with almost 35 minutes).

Seattle wasn’t able to get a vibe on what Nagy was doing from down to down and with them being off-balance, Nagy was able to keep getting yards when he needed them. Kudos to the Bears’ players for executing the plays well, taking what Seattle was giving them and grinding out yardage.

If the Bears can keep this formula moving forward: winning time of possession, offense keeping the chains moving and keeping the defense fresh while they shut down the opponent, the Bears should be able to continue to win some games while the offense gets it’s feet under themselves and Trubisky continues to develop.

Nagy deserved plenty of criticism after week one, but after week two, he deserves a tip of the cap.