Just two years ago, the Bears won the NFC North and then-first-year head coach Matt Nagy was recognized as AP Coach of the Year.
Oh, how things have changed. Following a lopsided 41-25 loss to the Packers on Sunday, Nagy was fielding questions about his job security and the team appears to be bubbling over with frustration.
“No, I’m not,” he told reporters when asked if he was concerned about keeping his job.
Since beginning the season at 5-1, the Bears have lost five straight. Three of those games — Sunday night’s loss to the Packers and Monday night defeats to the Vikings and Rams — have been in primetime. Another loss to the Saints was the national game in the late afternoon Sunday slot.
And, as is almost always the case in Chicago, the offense — Nagy’s speciality — has been the biggest culprit.
Chicago currently ranks 31st in total offense, trailing only the winless Jets. Nagy relinquished play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor two games ago, but the results have remained the same.
“S–t embarrassing,” wide receiver Anthony Miller wrote on Twitter the night of the loss.
Mitch Trubisky started Sunday night with Nick Foles recovering from a hip injury, but the results were similar. Trubisky turned the ball over three times, thanks to flawed decision-making that spoiled any momentum the Bears offense was able to muster.
“We understand where we’re at, and when you have games like this, you’ve gotta soul search,” Nagy said. “You’ve gotta be able to stop the bleeding. There’s a couple directions you can go.
“But my job as a leader is to make sure that they understand that. Obviously the last five weeks have been extremely difficult. It’s not fun. We all want to win. But the one reason why I’m here is to fight and to lead, and that’s what I think is most important during these times. When you go through these times, how do you respond? I think that’s the test of true character.”
The loss was particularly glaring considering Chicago was coming out of a bye week and still played their most egregious first half this season, falling behind 27-3 in front of a primetime audience.