The Chicago Bears are a mess. Their offense just posted one of the worst performances in NFL history in a 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns. And while rookie quarterback Justin Fields certainly wasn’t at fault, it’s a pretty disappointing start to his NFL career.
The Browns held the Bears to 47 yards of offense.
It's the fewest yards Cleveland has allowed since 1946.
Yep. 1946. pic.twitter.com/INXzzeEOZK
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 26, 2021
So bad was the Bears offensive game plan that many fans wondered aloud if head coach Matt Nagy has purposefully sabotaged Fields because he would much rather have Andy Dalton play and quiet the feedback he’s been receiving about putting in his first-round draft pick. Given how hot his seat is, it’s unlikely Nagy would throw a game on purpose, but it really did seem to defy logic how unprepared the Bears looked on offense.
The Bears averaged 1.1 yards per play vs the Browns, the 2nd-fewest by any team in a game this century. pic.twitter.com/0oo2rvU99i
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 26, 2021
For his part, Nagy took responsibility after the game.
“This is not how we wanted it to go,” Nagy said. “You almost can’t make it up. It was that bad.”
“I obviously as a head coach did not do a good enough job of getting this offense ready to go,” Nagy said. “It starts with me and it ends with me and it’s simple as that.”
After last week’s game, Matt Nagy confirmed that Dalton is still the start when he’s healthy. Following Sunday’s game, he didn’t exactly clear up who would be the starter in next weekend’s game against the Detroit Lions. In fact, he added a new name back into the mix, injured QB Nick Foles.
“They’re all three under consideration right now,” Nagy said. “We know where Nick’s at health-wise, but we just want to keep an eye on Justin and Andy.”
Dalton remains week-to-week with his knee injury. Meanwhile, Nagy said that X-rays on Fields’ hand were negative following an injury during the game. It remains most likely that Fields is going to get the start but Nagy really does like to keep things close to the chest as much as possible.
The question is if Nagy is going to stay so conservative and trot out the same plan no matter which quarterback plays, will it even matter? A lot of pundits don’t think so.
.@danorlovsky7 and Rex Ryan absolutely unleashed on the Bears' head coach 😳
"The Chicago Bears should fire Matt Nagy today. Because yesterday's game plan, which was the worst one I've ever seen in my life, was either negligence or intentional!" pic.twitter.com/SnWhQjNYme
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 27, 2021
[PFT]
