Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy Hell-Bent on Losing His Job Over Fields

Despite a good outing by rookie quarterback Justin Fields in a Week 4 victory, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy continues his obsession with keeping Fields on the bench, announcing that Andy Dalton would still be the starter when healthy.

The Chicago Bears bounced back from a humiliating loss in Week 3 enough to win in Week 4. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields, making his second professional start. After throwing for just 68 yards in his first start, he threw for 209 yards. He made some incredible and accurate passes downfield. In fact, he had five passes of 20+ yards, something we haven’t seen for quite some time.

Despite that, head coach Matt Nagy still feels that the rookie isn’t qualified to start in the NFL yet. In his press conference on Monday, Nagy announced his desire to have the previous starter, Andy Dalton, once again take over when he’s healthy enough to return.

I wonder if Nagy knows that Fields, not Dalton, is the future of the franchise. He and the coaches are charged with developing the kid so his reign as starter begins as soon as possible. Fields showed that he is ready to be the starter now. Is he a finished product? Of course, he isn’t. Most rookies, especially quarterbacks, aren’t. However, one can see that game isn’t too much for him. He isn’t overwhelmed, even last week when the Cleveland Browns threw him around like a rag doll all day. He’ll make mistakes, but he learns from them and works to avoid continually making the same errors.

Are Nagy’s expectations too big?

We all feel that Nagy is on the hot seat. The calls for his firing get louder each day. The way he’s handling Fields isn’t working in his favor. The way he’s handling this situation he may feel the roster is better than most people think.

Nagy might feel that victories are what will help him survive. Keeping Dalton likely gives the team a better chance at winning more games. If they get enough of them, they might make the playoffs. No matter how people feel about Nagy, would the McCaskeys fire a coach who made the playoffs three out of his four seasons?

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Well, the McCaskeys did fire a coach (Lovie Smith in 2012) who finished the season with 10 wins so there’s that. Also, Dalton probably needs to play lights out in order for the Bears to make the playoffs. There are some strong teams in the NFL this season. With the holes on the roster, both offensively and defensively, making the playoffs is a difficult road to travel.

The Bears’ schedule this season is brutal. Over the next four games, they face the Las Vegas Raiders, the Green Bay Packers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the San Francisco 49ers. After that, they also face the Baltimore Ravens, the Arizona Cardinals, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Packers again before the end of the season.

As I said, that is brutal. The Raiders and the Cardinals are the last two undefeated teams left in the NFL. Tampa is defending Super Bowl champs and the Packers, well, they own the Chicago Bears until further notice. Expecting this roster to overcome that and make the playoffs is a reach.

The best thing for Nagy is to swallow his pride and work on developing Fields. The Bears have 31 players due to hit free agency next offseason and a few others with buyouts to make them free agents. This will be a radically different roster next season. Working and developing Fields this season so he’s ready for the new, presumably better roster around him is crucial.

Yet here Nagy is, betting his job on winning games over developing Fields. Knowing the hope and expectation placed upon the young player, doing everything you can to help him should be Nagy’s priority. Yet it isn’t. Nagy wants to sit Fields on the bench and come in for a play here and there. Fields learned more in the past two weeks than he has since training camp. That needs to continue.

What Nagy is doing instead is doing his best to get himself fired and watch Fields succeed from a distance.