Matt Nagy to relinquish play-calling duties against Vikings
Joe Johnson
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Matt Nagy to relinquish play-calling duties against Vikings
With the Chicago Bears going into a Monday Night Football game against the upstart Minnesota Vikings, they’re in DESPERATE need of a win as they can’t afford to lose four straight after starting the season as a surprise early-season NFC contender by going 3-1. Since? They’ve quickly become offensively stagnant, ranking in the bottom five in the entire league in points scored and total yards.
Nagy, only two years removed from receiving NFL Coach of the Year honors, can see the writing on the wall and has been open these past few weeks to relinquishing play-calling duties to either former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo or current Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.
In the end, Nagy chose Lazor, saying:
“It’s not easy. It’s one of my favorite parts of coaching. I love it. I love it, ” Nagy said, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “We need to do what’s best for us, not what’s best for Matt Nagy.”
Some thought that DeFilippo, who is the current quarterbacks coach for the Bears, might get the nod as he’d worked with Nick Foles in Jacksonville and has had some play-calling responsibilities in recent seasons most infamously with the Vikings in 2018 as well as the Eagles at one point. Ironically, Lazor was the quarterback’s coach for the Eagles in 2013 underneath head coach Chip Kelly and John DeFilippo.
According to CBSsports.com:
“Chicago ranks 29th in scoring average (19.8) and ranks in the bottom five of the NFL in points per drive. The Bears are also second-to-last in the league in yards per play (4.8) and dead last in the league with 82.3 rushing yards per game, which is one reason for the offense’s struggles. Since Foles took over as the starter in Week 4, the Bears are only better than the winless Jets in total offense and rank in the bottom three in scoring offense. ”
Let’s just hope that this doesn’t mean that the Bears are also looking to bring back quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, as the last thing this rag-tag Vikings defense needs is for the Bears to bring in a quarterback who can extend plays/pick up yards with his legs. Sure, Foles has had the Vikings’ number before, in a game that my therapist said I need to stop thinking/talking/screaming/dreaming about, but this Vikings defense has shown an ability to stymy pocket passers this season and so I’d much rather face Foles than Trubisky. Trubisky is 2-2 against the Vikings, but he did lead the Bears to a 2-0 record against the Vikings in 2019.