Bears should follow Eagles lead and fire Matt Nagy before it’s too late

The Philadelphia Eagles fired Doug Pederson after a 4-11-1 season. Playoffs or not, the Chicago Bears should follow suit. 

Apparently, winning a team’s first Super Bowl isn’t enough to keep you employed. Doug Pederson learned that the hard way.

The Philadelphia Eagles fired Pederson after a 4-11-1 finish to the 2020 season. Losing seasons can warrant firings but a Super Bowl should buy time. In five years with the team, Pederson won two division titles, made the postseason three times and brought Philadelphia a Lombardi Trophy.

Carson Wentz, you better be worth it.

Pederson’s firing might ultimately stem down to his tanking job in Week 17. He lost the locker room after electing to bench Jalen Hurts for Nate Sudfeld to better the chances at a higher draft pick. His own players openly criticized the move following a 20-17 loss to Washington.

If Pederson’s departure proved anything, it’s not everything boils down to wins or losses. Sometimes change must be due to internal affairs.

The Chicago Bears should be paying close attention and the firing of Matt Nagy should follow suit.

Nagy’s playoff performance warrants a change of scenery

Nagy’s a winner in the season of straight Ws. He’s 28-20 all-time and has yet to have a season under .500. That doesn’t mean he’s getting the job done in the Windy City.

When hired, Nagy was expected to fix the hopeful franchise quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. He was given three years, multiple draft picks and control of the offense to do so. Heck, they even gave him an Andy Reid-Esque quarterback in Nick Foles to help.

In Week 10, Nagy gave up the play-calling to Bill Lazor. The Bears ranked 32nd in total offense at the time.

Chicago’s roller-coaster season ended with a backdoor slide in the playoff due to the Arizona Cardinals’ collapse over the final two weeks. Trubisky and the offense put up four-straight 30-plus point games, albeit they were against bottom 10 defenses.

And in the postseason? Nagy waved the white flag at halftime when Trubisky and the two-minute offense rushed three-straight plays for points. Chicago was only down by four to the New Orleans Saints.

Five passes from Trubisky went for over 20 yards. Two were drops, including a touchdown. The Bears finished with 11 total first downs and converted on third down once. But hey, winning right?

This is Chicago’s identity. They’ll win enough to get by and be outmatched in the postseason. Good enough to beat bad teams but terrible enough to struggle. Nagy didn’t implode, but he didn’t do enough to win.

The McCaskey family should take a hard look at Philadelphia. It’s time to decide if they want to settle for mediocrity or risk being worse to only get better.