First-and-10: Matt Nagy is in the spotlight this week

The honeymoon is far from over for Bears coach Matt Nagy. But after the Bears’ offense laid a giant egg against the Packers in the regular-season opener Thursday at Soldier Field, the loving gaze from Chicago and Bears fans is morphing into a slightly raised eyebrow of doubt. It’s like this great guy suddenly came home with lipstick on his collar.

Nagy earned a tremendous amount of trust equity in 2018 for deftly guiding the Bears to a 12-4 season and their first playoff berth since 2010. Hired with the reputation as a quarterback guru who could give the Bears a 21st-century offense, he turned out to be even more effective as a manager, leader and communicator. Defensive players revered Vic Fangio but still trusted and respected Nagy and followed his emotional lead. That’s a coach with potential to win a Super Bowl.

Nagy remains on that path, even after the Bears’ 10-3 loss. But after a shaky performance in which Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine got the best of him, he has more to prove in Week 2 against the Broncos — and Fangio — than even quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Nagy has to prove he can right the offensive ship and find a way to produce points, whether Trubisky is on his game or not or whether tight end Trey Burton is on the field or not. And he has to outsmart Fangio, who knows Trubisky and the Bears’ offense much better than Pettine does.

With the wind at his back just for not being John Fox, Nagy has enjoyed smooth sailing as a white knight at Halas Hall. Now, after the most inexplicable loss of his short tenure, he’s in new territory at a regular-season low point. One of Nagy’s more admirable qualities as a coach is his willingness to admit he doesn’t have all the answers. But that was almost too evident in the news conference Friday after the loss to the Packers.

Losses last season were disappointing, but this one was discouraging. It was the most compelling evidence yet that skeptics who think Trubisky doesn’t have the instincts to be a great quarterback — or even the ability to go through a standard progression — might be right.

‘‘It’s only one game’’ seemed to ring hollow, even as the words were coming out of the players’ mouths.

And anything that reflects on Trubisky reflects even more on Nagy. The game against the Broncos and Fangio was going to be a big one the minute it was announced. It’s now much bigger than almost anybody imagined it would be — for Trubisky, yes, but especially for Nagy.

2. The inefficiency of the Bears’ offense with Burton out with an injury seemed to underscore the importance of the tight end in Nagy’s offense.

In three games without the starting tight end in the last three seasons — Chiefs All-Pro Travis Kelce and Burton — Nagy’s offenses have averaged 0.89 points per possession. In games with the starting tight end, Nagy’s offenses have averaged 2.26 points per possession.

3. The offensive line is a strong No. 3 on the ‘‘something to prove’’ list. With the offseason switch that put center James Daniels and guard Cody Whitehair in their best positions and Kyle Long having a full offseason at full health, the offensive line was an assumed area of strength. But the offensive line was as much of a problem as any other area in the opener.

4. The Bears’ luck always seems to run cold against Aaron Rodgers. Cornerback Kyle Fuller led the NFL in interceptions last season, but the best opportunity for a pick he had all season was against Rodgers in the opener — and he dropped it, costing the Bears the game. Safety Eddie Jackson has returned five takeaways for touchdowns, but he intercepted Rodgers last season, got hurt on the return and was out for the season.

Against arguably the best quarterback in the NFL at finding and attacking a team’s weakness, Fangio put Cre’Von LeBlanc in single coverage against Jordy Nelson in a key moment in 2016 — and, of course, Rodgers burned them. It happened again Thursday, when, after three dominating possessions against Rodgers, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano replaced starting safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix with Deon Bush. Rodgers responded by burning the Bears for a 47-yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham, who won a jump ball against Bush.

Poor Pagano. His defense was outstanding in his first game as the Bears’ coordinator, and the one move that turned sour will be a huge focus. Rodgers is something else.

5. If the Bears open 0-2, their playoff hopes suddenly become daunting. Since the advent of the 12-team playoff format in 1990, only 13.1 percent of 0-2 teams (30 of 229) have made the playoffs.

In the last 10 years, 15.4 percent of 0-2 teams have made the postseason (12 of 78). But 0-2 teams that had winning record the previous season were slightly more successful at overcoming the slow start to make the playoffs (6 of 25, 24 percent).

6. Tight end Adam Shaheen was drafted in the second round out of Division II Ashland (Ohio) in 2017 because NFL teams saw him as a potential Rob Gronkowski-like matchup nightmare who could make plays downfield. But the 6-6, 257-pound Shaheen looks more like a standard in-line blocking tight end with above-average potential as a red-zone/end-zone receiving threat.

‘‘That’s a good question,’’ Bears general manager Ryan Pace said when asked what Shaheen’s ceiling is. ‘‘I don’t know what his ceiling is, and that’s a good thing. I think he can be very well-rounded. In the pass game, he’s such a big target, such a long target, even when he’s covered, he’s really not covered because he can body guys and go up and make a play.’’

7. As crazy as the Antonio Brown saga was, the result was predictable. The Patriots are the only team with the culture to absorb a prima donna as problematic as Brown. They’ve done it with several malcontents of varying degrees, including former Bears tight end Martellus Bennett twice.

8. Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd has seven of his 17½ career sacks in six games against Rodgers, including a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 2016. Of the five players with the most sacks of Rodgers, Floyd is the only one who hasn’t made the Pro Bowl.

The list: Jared Allen, 15 (14 games); Everson Griffen, 10½ (16 games); Julius Peppers, 10 (10 games); Floyd, seven (six games); Cliff Avril, seven (14 games).

9. Josh McCown Ex-Bear of the Week Award: Packers safety Adrian Amos took the early lead in the Amos/Clinton-Dix ‘‘trade’’ with an end-zone interception of Trubisky in the fourth quarter of the Packers’ victory Thursday against the Bears.

Amos joins Robbie Gould (five field goals in 2017), Alshon Jeffery (touchdown catch in 2017), Chris Conte (pick-six in 2016) and Corey Graham (interception in 2014) as recent former Bears to make a significant contribution to beating the Bears.

10. Bear-ometer: 8-8 — at Broncos (W); at Redskins (W); vs. Vikings (L); at Raiders (W); vs. Saints (L); vs. Chargers (W); at Eagles (L); vs. Lions (W); at Rams (L); vs. Giants (W); at Lions (W); vs. Cowboys (W); at Packers (L); vs. Chiefs (L); at Vikings (L).