Packers-Bears Week 17 Q&A: What’s cooking in the Bears offense?

The Chicago Bears came into Lambeau Field in Week 12 mired in what would wind up as a six-game losing skid. They left on the receiving end of a 41-25 loss. Since then, though, they’ve pulled out of their slide and are making a long-shot push for the playoffs.

To find out a little bit about where the Bears have gone since we last saw them, we checked in with Patti Curl of Windy City Gridiron. In part one of our chat, she shares a bit about the offense. Check back tomorrow for a look at the Bears’ defense.

Acme Packing Company: Generally, it seems the thinking with the Matt Nagy hire three years ago was that he was going to bring the Andy Reid offensive experience to the Bears. That hasn’t really worked out, but with Mitchell Trubisky putting together a strong second half do you think he can salvage his job? Will the Bears run it back next year?

Patti Curl: Certainly some of the appeal of bringing Matt Nagy in was the hope of carrying over the Chiefs’ offensive success to pair with Chicago’s defense. That obviously didn’t work out as planned. Basically, the offense has been best when he’s tried a simpler “offense 101” version of his dream offense in 2018 or the times this year when he’s basically abandoned it and focused on what works best for Trubisky.

But Nagy has other leadership qualities that the Bears value, and I think that’s shown in how strongly the players believed in him and played for him during a six-game losing streak this year. I think winning these last games has saved his job, even if it hadn’t been through an offensive resurgence. Personally, I like the guy, he’s young and I’m hopeful he’s learning from his loses because I had to go through the same process of simplifying my offense to get better execution in my time as a flag football captain. It takes humility to realize you’re sometimes too smart for your own good.

APC: Speaking of Trubisky: on a scale of 1-10, how frightened/worried/uncertain are you about a good finish to the season leading to a big contract extension for the former second overall pick?

PC: Big contract? 1 out of 10. I don’t see them doing that unless he goes on a miraculous Super Bowl run. If that happens, I won’t be mad if they give him all the pizza in Chicago. I think the most likely extension would be a one year “can’t quite quit you” deal. Possibly a longer deal with both player and team outs. If that seems like a bad idea, it is. It’s precisely the kind of bad idea Ryan Pace would dream up if he’s still the GM.

APC: David Montgomery has been quite productive down the stretch. What’s your assessment of how he has played?

PC: Good bear, that one. He’s got great vision and balance, and he runs hard and fights for extra inches. He’s got two large meaty haunches that don’t quit and it’s fun to watch.

Our thanks to Patti for these responses, and keep an eye out tomorrow for part two of the Q&A, which will focus on Chicago’s defense.