Since we're all just sitting on our couches waiting for the next self-induced panic attack to arrive, NFL Gamepass decided to step in and do us a solid. Starting immediately, Gamepass' archive of full games and highlights will be available to anyone and everyone (until May 31) who wants to watch old football games where you already know who wins. Fill your days with as much 8-8 football as your heart can handle. I mean really sink in and break down the zone blocking scheme's role in that 13-8 game from 2005. Besides, you probably missed something from the first time you watched it, 15 years ago.
The Bears are on gamepass, coincidentally enough, and diving into some of Matt Nagy's best wins over the last two years could be fun. So let's!
The First Win - 2018 Week 2
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
People forget that the Bears got a Monday Night Football game – against a Seahawks team that missed the playoffs the season prior – a week after also being on national TV for the Sunday night opener. It's true! Someone let them! With the benefit of hindsight, this game was actually very 2019 Bears; through three quarters Chicago was winning a 10-3 football game. Mitch Trubisky finished 25/34 with 200 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, Allen Robinson had 10 catches for 83 yards without scoring, and the Bears' leading rusher had 35 yards on 14 carries.
2018 was a different time though, and back in the good ol' days the Bears defense bailed the team out like literally every other game. This time it was Prince Amukamara, who jumped a comeback route at midfield and walked into the end zone (only having to evade maybe the most half-hearted attempt in the history of QB tackles from Russell Wilson) to seal the win. The Seahawks weirdly made a game of it with less than a minute left, but Seattle couldn't convert an onsides kick and Matt Nagy had his first win as a head coach.
Boat racing the Bills – 2018 Week 9
Actually, don't watch this game. The Bears won 41-9 and had 135 passing yards – Trubisky had 12 completions. They had 64 yards rushing too. Instead, it was Eddie Jackson's scoop-and-score, followed by Leonard Floyd's pick-6, that won the Bears the game – helped by Cody Parkey's 11 points (2/2 FGs, 5/5 XPs). You've watched enough Nathan Peterman already.
NFL
Torching Tampa Bay – 2018 Week 4
God, yes. Watch this game every single night. Mitch Trubisky had 350 passing yards and SIX touchdowns. He came close to matching his career total at that point (9) through three quarters. Do you remember that this was actually the game that got Ryan Fitzpatrick benched, thus ending FitzMagic, and was actually the second time in two weeks that the Bears' defense got a starting QB benched (Sam Bradford/Josh Rosen)? No, of course you didn't. And who cares. Mitch Trubisky threw six touchdowns. Watch this game because Mitch Trubisky threw six touchdowns.
The B-Team Beats The Vikings – 2019 Week 4
The Vikings, man. What's the deal? Every time they go up against Nagy, we spend all week talking about how, well, actually, the Vikings are pretty deep! And match up well with the Bears! And then the Vikings lose. Case in point: The Bears went into this game with an inactive list that included Roquan Smith, Akiem Hicks, Bilal Nichols, Taylor Gabriel and Kyle Long. Then, on the first drive of the game, Mitch Trubisky left the game with a serious shoulder injury. Chase Daniel came in and put up a *classic* Chase Daniel statline (22/30, 195, 1 TD) and the defense continued its haunting of Kirk Cousins. After the game Nagy was AMPED at the podium, and called it one of his favorite wins ever. If he likes it so much, it must be fun to watch, I repeat to myself over and over and over again.
Kings of The North – 2018 Week 15
Noticed yet how 4 out of 5 of these games were in 2018? Ha ha, great, me too. Terrific. Anyways, here's Matt Nagy's only win against the Packers. It's at Soldier Field, and Eddie Jackson wins the Bears an NFC North title with an interception of Aaron Rodgers in the Chicago end zone. The interception also happened to end Rodgers' record-setting run of passes without an interception, so that's neat. This is objectively the peak of the Nagy era, so it feels like the easiest choice of all.