Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy began his Monday press conference in a surprising way. He called out his best unit, and the primary reason his team has won five games at all: his defense. After Chicago lost its third straight prime time contest in embarrassing fashion Sunday night — this one to their arch rivals to the North, the Green Bay Packers — Nagy seemed exasperated and out of answers after the game, but full of fire on Monday morning after watching the tape.
When he spoke with the media via Zoom Monday, Nagy noted the team had suffered no significant injuries in the 41-25 loss before expressing disappointment in his defense, specifically — a move that sent Twitter into a bit of a frenzy.
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Matt Nagy Calls Out Entire Team & Coaching Staff, Singles Out Defense
“At the beginning of the game, for them (the Packers) to go on this 14-play drive, 75 yards and go down and score, that’s not who we are as a defense,” Nagy began. “When you look at this thing, big picture, they had basically three drives and around 36 plays. Twenty-two out of those 36 plays were 5+ yards. That can’t happen.”
Nagy also called out his offense, but he made a point to mention the defense, who gave up more points Sunday against Green Bay than they had in any game all season, first. “Our guys, they need to understand where we’re coming from with that and how we feed off of them as a defense. They’ve done a hell of a job all year long, but yesterday was not where we need to be.”
Nagy usually refuses to call his players out for much of anything, usually eschewing any kind of negativity. That was not the case Monday.
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Nagy Calling Out His Players Will Either Be Very Good … Or Very, Very Bad
“If you really care and you understand what we put out there last night, you’ll fix it,” the Bears coach said, referencing his players and the entire coaching staff, himself included. “I’m hoping none of us slept last night,” he added.
The Bears have dropped five in a row after starting the season off at 5-1, and they saved one of their worst performances of the season for their biggest rivals in a game they needed to win to improve their standing in the playoff race.
“Yesterday was flat-out embarrassing,” Nagy said, before telling his entire team to rethink where they’re at right now, coaches included. “Have some personal pride. Have a freaking sense of urgency … that’s not who we are in particular as a defense,” Nagy said, again bringing up the defense.
Nagy calling his players out in such a manner will end one of two ways: They will respond with a fire and vigor they have yet to display, or they’ll quit on him entirely, with the hopes of playing for a different coach. The Bears play another divisional opponent, the Detroit Lions, next Sunday, so it won’t take long to find out.
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Bears HC Matt Nagy Calls Out Defense, Team: ‘Have Some Personal Pride’