Getty Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano and head coach Matt Nagy
Could Chuck Pagano’s days as the Chicago Bears‘ defensive coordinator be numbered? After yet another disappointing showing that saw his unit lit up for 30+ points against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, it’s looking more and more like a distinct possibility for a Chicago team that snuck into the playoffs courtesy of a Los Angeles Rams win. The Bears could have earned the berth themselves with a victory over Green Bay, but instead, they had to rely on the outcomes of other games, which worked out in their favor.
Prior to their matchup against the Packers Week 17 — a game they just lost 35-16 — Pagano had vowed to bring a defense that was firing on all cylinders, a metaphor he employed himself. “We’re emptying the chamber,” Pagano said last week in reference to what his defense would bring to the game against the Packers, per the Chicago Tribune.
Instead, Pagano’s defense sacked Rodgers just once, while recording six QB hits and dropping three potential interceptions. The Bears failed to pressure Rodgers consistently yet again (they didn’t touch him at all in their first meeting Week 12) and as a result, Pagano may be on his way out of the Windy City, regardless of what happens next week when the Bears face the Saints in the playoffs.
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Multiple Bears Analysts Predict Pagano Will Be Fired
Over the last week, Windy City Gridiron and Bear Report’s Aaron Leming along with DaBearsBlog’s Johnathan Wood both suggested via Twitter that Pagano could very well be fired at the end of the season, while the rest of the coaching staff, as well as GM Ryan Pace, could all stay on at least one more year, although nothing has been confirmed or denied by the organization.
Wood noted that since Matt Nagy took over as head coach in 2018, Chicago has gotten rid of a “scapegoat” at the end of each season. In 2018, it was kicker Cody Parkey, whose infamous “Double-Doink” knocked the team out of the playoffs that year, and in 2019, Chicago parted ways with former offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and ex-offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich.
@Johnathan_Wood1 And Hiestand/whatever his name is from Oregon that seemingly did nothing
Now, they think Pagano will be next — and they may be right.
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Bears Defense Has Undeniably Regressed Under Pagano
On The Football Aftershow, former Bears All-Pro center Olin Kreutz offered his take on Chuck Pagano’s defense, and it’s not pretty: “There’s a lot of confusion in the secondary,” Kreutz said.
The Bears will head to New Orleans to face the Saints next weekend, and Kreutz says he’s more concerned about the defense than anything else right now. “Guys one-on-one with the linebacker and we’re all wondering, what the hell defense is that? … You’re wondering what the hell’s going on a few more times than you’d like to while watching these games. What coverage are they in? You see them looking at each other. They’ve got to get this thing straight, because we all know what Drew Brees can do with the football. This defense the last month or so, we’ve been trying to say, you’ve got to worry about these guys. They don’t look good.”
No, they don’t. Under former DC Vic Fangio, the Bears gave up 15.9 points a game in 2017 and 14.2 points a game in 2018. When Pagano took over in 2019, Chicago allowed opposing offenses a respectable 18.5 points, a total that slipped to 23.1 this season.
The secondary and pass rushing have also looked far worse under Pagano than they did under his predecessor. Chicago has had a total of 20 interceptions in the two years since Pagano took over. In 2018, they had 27 as a team, failing to intercept a pass in just two regular season games that year. While no one expected the Bears to continue that type of production after Fangio left and a drop off was fully expected, the decline under Pagano has been palpable in nearly every game.
Chicago had 42 sacks in 2017 and 50 sacks in 2018. Under Pagano, they had 32 in 2019 and 35 this season, and the DC has failed to get the most out of players like Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn. Mack had nine sacks this season after getting 8.5 last year, both among his career lows, while Quinn registered just two sacks on the season after leading the Cowboys with 11.5 last year. Again, nothing has been confirmed or denied, but the way things are going, Pagano could very well be the next Bears coach to find himself unemployed.
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