As the Bears stumbled their way to an 0-2 playoff record under Matt Nagy, questions quickly turned to the team’s future. Specifically, would Nagy return as head coach? Would the team go even further by firing Ryan Pace?
When push came to shove on the Football Aftershow, Alex Brown said he thought at least one of the Bear decision makers would be back.
“For me, I think Ryan comes back,” Brown said. “I really do. I think Ryan comes back. Because I don’t think he’s missed on— he’s missed on a few guys, but he’s hit on a few guys too.”
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Pace has notably hit on several impact players. Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan and Allen Robinson have been great free agent signings. Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson (bad Wild Card game notwithstanding) and Cody Whitehair have been excellent draft picks. But for every Hicks and Whitehair, there’s a Markus Wheaton or Adam Shaheen to take away some of Pace’s shine.
Still, Brown lays the blame for the Bears’ woes elsewhere.
“Nagy I think is the problem, honestly.”
But if Olin Kreutz was the man making the decisions in Halas hall, he’d need to hear how Pace would plan on fixing the offense before ultimately deciding to keep him on board for 2021 and beyond.
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“What’s your plan on offense, for a guy (Matt Nagy) you hired to fix the offense?” Kreutz said on Football Aftershow. “Why do we have 12 quarterback coaches in the building, and our quarterbacks are struggling?”
Kreutz exaggerates a bit, as the Bears have closer to five coaches with their fingerprints on the passing game, but the point remains.
“If you keep these guys, it really only means that you think they’re improving, that they’re correcting their mistakes,” Kreutz said.
In the end, Brown says only one man will determine Pace and Nagy’s fates.
“I think that’s going to be up to George (McCaskey), whatever he wants. If he believes they have a plan in place, then yes (they’ll be back).”