The Chicago Bears have struggled to find consistency this season, and head coach Matt Nagy has faced criticism for the team’s offensive output. Judging by what he told his players this week, Nagy knows he has to be a lot better going forward.
The Bears ran the ball just seven times for 17 yards in their 36-25 loss to the New Orleans Saints last week. Nagy told reporters during the week that he is “not an idiot” and knows the team needs to run the ball more, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media says he expressed the same message privately to his players — albeit in much more animated fashion.
Nagy told Bears players during the week that running the ball only seven times in a game is “horses—” and won’t happen again. He wanted to make it clear that he holds himself accountable for Chicago’s 3-3 record and that he is committed to giving the ball to David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen more. That style of play should benefit the Bears, as their defense is one of the best in the NFL and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is still experiencing some growing pains.
Chicago has another tough home test this week against the Los Angeles Chargers, and you can bet they won’t be looking to get into any type of shootout. Bears fans were not very kind to Trubisky in his first game back last week, so it’s safe to assume Nagy will look to take pressure off the third-year quarterback in Week 8 and beyond.
