(Author's Note: Since the time of this writing, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy announced that Justin Fields will be the starting QB against the Las Vegas Raiders and moving forward.)
SAN DIEGO -- I write this Bears Mailbag from the comfort of my Airbnb, just a few blocks from the Ocean Beach boardwalk in San Diego as my vacation comes to an end. Bummer. On the bright side, I'll be covering Bears games live again, starting this Sunday.
After a failure of epic proportions against the Cleveland Browns, the Chicago Bears breathed some life into their 2021 season on Sunday with a convincing 24-14 win over the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field.
This win was important for Matt Nagy and his coaching staff, as talk all week centered on the real possibility that he could be fired if the Bears lost at home to winless Detroit. Luckily, after a strong Justin Fields performance (and all-around team performance) that talk has been tabled -- for now. The Bears now enter a rough stretch that will define their season, starting this Sunday in Las Vegas against the 3-1 Raiders. We'll see just how much the Bears have grown over the course of their next six games. With that, let's reach into this week's Bears Mailbag. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Bears Mailbag
I'll start by saying this was covered in detail in our latest Club Dub podcast episode, which I plugged at the end of the article, so make sure to check that out! Second, Bears fans are reading way too much into this. The coaching staff has two responsibilities this year: Win and develop Justin Fields. I get that everyone is excited about the shiny new toy in Fields, who looked good on Sunday after looking like a trainwreck in Cleveland, but Bears fans need to step back from the ledge. Nagy is partly in survival mode and partly playing politics. He reportedly really wanted to play Andy Dalton against Detroit due to all the noise surrounding his job, and he trusts the veteran more right now to a) win him games and b) help get Fields the time he needs to learn coverages, see progressions quicker, etc. With Fields *needing* to play, and a combination of scheme changes and Bill Lazor's influence on play calling, Fields largely flourished, the Bears won, they looked good doing so, and the calls for Nagy's job reduced (slightly). He's gotten the Bears where they expected to be after four games: 2-2. At this point, Nagy should be comfortable enough going with Fields and seeing what he's got. But he wants to leave the window open in case Fields struggles or looks flat out unprofessional against some tougher defenses coming up. If the need comes to play Dalton, it won't publicly look like a benching because they can always say the plan was to play Dalton. Why is this important? Look at what Miami did last year with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua Tagovailoa. It was a mess, no one knew who the starter is, the benchings mid-game didn't make sense, and the overall strategy looked discombobulated. Nagy seemingly wants to avoid that if it comes to it. People can say what they want about the plan -- I understand not everyone agrees with it. I agreed with it earlier this year, but the reality is Dalton's injury forced their hand. Fields has now put some good tape on there that is worth considering for many defenses, especially in the vertical passing game. It's worth exploring further. (Also, in general, after three years of dancing around in press conferences, why do people still believe what Nagy says in these pressers?)
FINAL NOTE -- Follow our podcast's Twitter account (@clubdub_podcast) and catch up on our latest episode from Tuesday night!
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