Chicago Bears: 4 hot takes on Justin Fields, Jaylon Johnson, and more

Hot Take: The Chicago Bears are the least disciplined team in the NFL

Matt Nagy’s lack of control over his players has been evident for a while now, and many fans believe the Bears could be the least disciplined team in football.

Are the Bears the least disciplined team in the NFL?

Matt Nagy has been under heavy scrutiny from fans for more reasons than one, but one area that I don’t think gets talked about enough is how undisciplined his team has been. The NFL is a very complex league with many variables largely out of a coach’s control, but having a disciplined team is not supposed to be one of them.

Chicago helped extend two Bengals drives thanks to completely preventable penalties. One is an obvious late hit out of bounds by Robert Quinn, and the other being a taunting penalty on Safety Teshaun Gipson Sr.

Both of these drives kept the Bears’ defense on the field and would’ve drawn more attention had the Bears lost the game. The Bears were fortunate that they were still able to come away with a victory despite these calls, but they may not be able to get away with it against better teams.

This isn’t the first time the Bears have had this issue 

The Chicago Bears also had a discipline problem last year. Javon Wims infamously punched Saints cornerback Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on the field. As if this instance wasn’t embarrassing enough, Anthony Miller also attacked Gardner-Johnson in the playoffs.

Football is an emotional game, and a coach should always be held liable for his player’s lack of control, but this is different. It isn’t just the occasional isolated incident; it’s a pattern of repeated behavior by Bears players that is just unacceptable.

Matt Nagy doesn’t have control of his players 

Nagy is a player’s coach, which can be a good thing, but it is important to still reprimand players when they hurt the team. Nagy trying too hard to be the nice guy has made it so his players don’t respect his authority. Even if these lapses in judgment aren’t encouraged by Nagy, they seem to be at least tolerated, and that’s why they still happen frequently. There is a reason why these types of penalties that have become a weekly occurrence for the Bears just don’t happen in places with strong leadership.

Bottom line:

I’m not sure if there is an actual stat that measures bone-headed penalties and mistakes, but if there is one, it’s hard to imagine that the Bears would not be near the top of that list. Penalties happen in football, but it’s the preventable nature of many of these miscues that point directly towards a bad culture and environment.