Lots of Fight Left in Bears, for What That's Worth
One gauge often used to determine a losing coach's possible status for the future is how hard players are still competing in their lost cause.
When teams give up and start getting blown out, it's obvious to all what needs to be done. In coach Matt Nagy's case, though, this may not matter because of Bears offensive struggles and other factors.
So far it is true the Bears have avoided collapsing, even as vultures circle overhead for the Nagy regime.
There are two games coming up when this type of cave-in could happen. One is this week with the Seahawks and the other is the season finale with the Vikings. It's because they are road games. Hapless teams so often show their true colors when stacked up against a tough opponent in front of an out-of-town crowd in December, when it is much easier for players to simply look ahead to the end of the season.
"These guys are pouring their heart, their blood, sweat and tears out there and doing everything we can to win," Nagy said Tuesday after Monday's loss to Minnesota. "It becomes long and hard when you're not winning. For those guys to be able to fight through that, that's what I appreciate as a coach.
"I just think it speaks to who they are as high-character guys."
Especially on defense against the Vikings, the fight remaining became entirely apparent.
Holding Minnesota's offense below 200 yards with all subs and some practice players in the secondary due to COVID-19—and also without Khalil Mack—is no easy task.
The defense gave an effort not always apparent when they had starters on the field.
Some of the backup players resented being talked about as merely being practice players or subs before the game. They saw plenty of weekend talk on sports television about how Minnesota's Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson would light them up because of the starters being out due to COVID-19.
Teez Tabor, Deon Bush, Thomas Graham Jr., Kindle Vildor and Marqui Christian were far from household words and were viewed as easy prey for the Vikings. In the end, the Bears allowed the fewest yards (191) they had in a game since the regular-season finale in 2018 when they beat Minnesota 24-10.
"We really wanted to come in and show that we could play," safety Deon Bush said. "We take offense to that because we feel like we can play, man. So we really just huddled in this week, came together, studied extra film, made sure we were prepared for the opportunity."
Pride is critical in such situations.
"It's definitely motivating because we all were college players at one point and we played at high levels," Bush said. "We just wanted to go out there and not really prove to anybody else but prove to ourselves."
Bush called it a case of opportunity meeting pride and pointed to safety Teez Tabor as an example of how the subs can be underrated.
"Teez he was on practice squad but he was making plays all year," Bush said. "If you watch Teez in practice, man, he goes crazy every day and he brings energy.
"So it's like, well right, Teez is coming in, but we've got a ball player coming in. But the whole world doesn't know about it. So it's really about taking advantage of his opportunity. I think he did, too."
No doubt having Akiem Hicks back from an ankle sprain helped, as the pass rush came not only from the side but also the front.
Defensive players weren't even sure who their defensive coordinator would be, but they had a bit of a jump on this compared to the rest of the world. The Bears announced Monday they would have defensive coordinator Sean Desai back for the game from the COVID-19 list but players actually found out on Sunday during the team's walk-through.
Still, through all of that bravado, it was a loss, one of 10 so far.
Nagy's team last year fell into a longer losing streak than this year but managed to pull out of it against some weaker opponents and at a time when they still could get back in the playoff chase. This year the losing didn't end with the streak, as they've gone from a five-game losing streak to losing eight out of nine.
"In the end, when you're losing like this, the one thing you want to continue to do is fight to win but also see other guys fighting, and they are," Nagy said. "From me to them, I appreciate that."
Fighting in the face of adversity is one thing.
What ownership will need to determine is how they can avoid skids like they had in each of the last three seasons in order to be more competitive.
The bottom line is battling hard through a losing season sounds nice, but it's a theme for losers and not playoff teams.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
