As the director of Chicago's offense, Matt Nagy holds the responsibility of devising a strategy productive enough to win games. His chair might not be the sturdiest, though.
Nagy's Bears are 5-2 and in prime playoff-contending position, yet he spent the Tuesday following his team's loss to the Rams answering questions about his play-calling duties. His answer: Yes, Chicago's 27th-ranked scoring offense is not doing its part to help the Bears defeat opponents, but Nagy is not the problem.
"I always, I look at all that," Nagy said of considering handing play-calling duties off to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. "That's the very first thing that I look at, is that. So, I talk to our coaches, and we talk through that whole process. I am really honestly not opposed to, here's no opposition from me if we feel like that that's what the issue is. And so we look at that.
"Right now, where we're at, that's not where we think it's at, but at the same point in time, I'll always continue each week to look at it. I mean, I'll say this too, when you're in a little bit of a rut like we are, or a lot a bit of a rut like we are right now, you have to look at everything. And sometimes even if it's just a little bit of a change somewhere, too. You have to be able to do that."
For the Bears, there's nowhere to go but up in the ground game. Chicago ranks 32nd in the NFL in rushing yards per game with just 84.1. The loss of Tarik Cohen has undoubtedly affected Chicago's offensive capability in both the run and pass, and one needn't look further than the Bears' depth chart, which lists Cordarrelle Patterson as the team's second-string running back.
David Montgomery remains a promising runner, but not one realistically expected to string together Alvin Kamara-like performances. Simply, the Bears just don't have all that much talent on the offensive side of the ball.
Still, fans will view Chicago's record and expect more out of an offense that has already seen a change at quarterback. When the Bears run out of players to point to as problems, they'll direct their attention to the man calling the shots. That's Nagy in the Windy City, who is understandably struggling to make lemonade out of the lemons provided to him by general manager Ryan Pace.
"No one here coach and or player has too big of an ego to think that it's not them," Nagy said. "Right, as a player or a coach. So we just talk through those kind of decisions. And we just keep evaluating and rolling and seeing where we're at."
A 5-2 mark after seven games is enough to be pleased, but not content. Just watch a couple of Bears possessions and let us know how your stomach feels afterward. Chicago could be headed for the Pepto if things don't get better soon.
