Chicago Bears: 3 signs Matt Nagy will be fired despite win over the Raiders
Sign No. 1: Matt Nagy was already on the hot seat after a second Chicago Bears 8-8 season
If we rewind back to the end of the 2020 season, the Chicago Bears backed their way into the playoffs with a putrid 8-8 season. The team embarrassed themselves versus the Saints in the Wild Card Round and lost 21-9 to be eliminated from the playoffs. At that point, I did not know many fans who would stick up for Matt Nagy as the Bears head coach.
At that point, Bears fans knew that Matt Nagy could not return in 2021. In fact, most expected not only Nagy to be fired, but also general manager Ryan Pace to be fired. The outcome of that offseason left most of us filled with many emotions. Emotions ranging from hatred, to anger, to heartbreak, to frustration, to even feeling stuck. That’s right, it’s easy to just feel stuck knowing that this is now what we expect this franchise to do.
Fast-forward to April 29, 2021, and we saw just what Ryan Pace could do. We cannot erase everything he has done prior to this moment — good or bad. However, the move from 20th overall to 11th overall brought many fans back from the brink of jumping ship. Landing Justin Fields has brought fire and enthusiasm to this team like we have not seen in years.
Was it enough to save Ryan Pace’s job though? Maybe. If Matt Nagy goes, could Pace stick around? The answer should be no, but we know better to believe we understand the inter-workings of the brain trust that is George McCaskey and Ted Phillips. Therefore, we need to temper those expectations, and solely focus on Matt Nagy for this one.
It appears to me, although many do not agree, that Matt Nagy entered the 2021 NFL season on the hot seat. Nagy had one year left on his deal (2021) and I do not believe he will see an extension unless the team starts scoring points, they make the playoffs and Justin Fields looks better than what we have ever seen from a rookie quarterback here in Chicago. Oh yea, and they better win that playoff game too.
This is a lot to overcome and Nagy has not been off to a great start despite a 3-2 record on the year. This is only one sign and if it was a standalone sign, I would already have ruled out the decision of possibly firing Nagy, however, I believe that the decision has already been made with a slightly cracked open door being left there for an ‘in case” this happened. The “in case” being everything I laid out that Nagy and the Bears must accomplish to stick around.