The Bears might have had the most predictable offense in the NFL last year. But under coach Matt Nagy, their offense is becoming one of the most unpredictable.
“There’s no way you can practice every one of their plays — they’ve got 800 of them for every game,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday as his team prepared to face the Bears on Sunday night at Soldier Field.
Nagy disputed that notion, but mostly in jest.
“It’s more like 750,” Nagy said.
Whatever the real number is, Nagy likely will have to dig pretty deep into his playbook to keep the Bears’ offensive momentum going against Zimmer’s Vikings. The Bears come in on a roll — in the last seven weeks, they’re fifth in the NFL in offensive points (32.0 per game) and fourth in yards per play (6.6).
But the Vikings are on a similar roll defensively. After allowing 381.5 yards per game in their first four games, they’ve allowed 274.8 yards in their last five, with 20 sacks. Even in the only loss in that span, they held the red-hot Saints to a season-low 270 yards and Drew Brees to 120 passing yards — his fewest passing yards in a full game in 13 years with New Orleans.
The Bears’ offense has made huge strides in Nagy’s first season. The trick now is to stay ahead of the defenses as opponents learn more and more about Nagy, his offensive weapons, his tendencies and his play-calling. The idea is to keep defenses off-balance, but within the context of the offense.
“That’s always the objective for us,” Nagy said. “There’s always a balance. If you try to do too much, and it’s not who you are, it can get you. But at the same time, you want to be able to be different with what you do and not be predictable.
“We always self-scout and decide what we want to do going into each game. [Against] the Vikings and their great defense, you have to take a lot of things into consideration.”
Nagy’s week-to-week focus is on the next opponent. But in the big picture, he sees an offense and a quarterback in Mitch Trubisky still in a formative stage.
“Every game that goes by, every play we get, experience is crucial,” Nagy said. “For a lot of us, this is our rookie year. This is my rookie year. This is really Mitch’s rookie year; really, it’s our offense’s rookie year. So we hope that it’s only going to get better.”
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Nagy sees all sorts of room for improvement, including himself. The Bears are coming off arguably their best offensive performance of the season in a 34-22 victory against the Lions last week at Soldier Field. But Nagy still was kicking himself over three play-calls in the red zone in the third quarter.
“I think I called three of the worst play-calls in my life,” Nagy said after the game. “That’s going to sit on me for a little bit.”
Of course, that was only Nagy’s 15th game as a play-caller in the NFL. He essentially completes a full season against Minnesota.
“I think I’m improving,” Nagy said. “I have a ways to go — the feel of knowing who our players are, when to call what and just kind of going through situational football of where we’re at. I felt right away after those three play-calls that I could have been better there.
0“I told the offense as it came off the field that I’m going to be better the next series. And I told the defense after their stop [after a missed field goal], ‘Thank you.’ I learn from that. I take notes. I remember it. And when you get in that situation again, it helps you.”
