Matt Nagy’s inexcusable end to first half vs. Saints

When you enter NFL Wild Card Weekend as the biggest underdog on the board, you’ve essentially got nothing to lose.

That was the Chicago Bears on Sunday when they suited up to take on the seconded-seeded New Orleans Saints in the Louisiana Superdome.

Their head coach however treated the end of the first half as if the Bears were the ones with everything to lose.

Trailing 7-3 with 1:49 remaining before halftime, the Bears got the ball back at their own 23-yard line, stocked with two of their three timeouts, and also set to get the ball to start the second half.

If ever there was a time to be liberal in playcalling it was then.  What followed was instead as appalling as anything that has occurred with the Bears in now three completed seasons under Matt Nagy’s watch:

The offense didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard to that point, having only scored three points against the mighty Saints defense, but wouldn’t a logical person think that’s all the more reason for you to take a chance?

Considering one touchdown is going to be hard enough to come by wouldn’t maximizing your chances make sense?

Instead, it was a series of play calls that likely crushed the little confidence the Bears offense had at that point and it’s no surprise to me you saw them come out and do nothing as a unit in the second half.

It’s hard enough against a great defense, but it’s even that much more difficult when your own head coach curls up in the fetal position on the sideline, just before halftime.