Even on a Victory Tuesday last week at Halas Hall, coach Matt Nagy was ready to move on.
‘‘That’s our first Vikings question,’’ Nagy noted after 33 questions related to the victory against the Redskins the previous night. ‘‘Yeah, it’s gonna be — this is a division game, right? At home against a pretty good defense and an offense right now that’s, like, tops in the league in running the ball. This will be good to see how this goes. . . . You better come ready to buckle-your-chinstrap type of deal.’’
He didn’t stop there.
‘‘So the game is big. It’s a division [game]. It’s at home. We’re 0-1 right now at home vs. a division opponent. I felt like last year, when we played [the Vikings] at home . . . that was kind of, to me, a turning point of our season where I felt like we got a big win.’’
And Nagy still wasn’t done.
‘‘The players have off today. It’s a short week. You’re taking time away from me now game-planning [with the news conference], but that’s OK because this is what we do. [You] rely on your coaches to help you out. But, yeah, that’s that.’’
The question, as it turned out, was left unanswered: ‘‘How much are you looking forward to a game against the Vikings’ defense as a litmus test to confirm the offensive progress against the Redskins?’’ But it doesn’t matter. Nagy is stoked for a game he knows is pretty close to a must-win for this early in the season.
It indeed will be a litmus test for quarterback Mitch Trubisky and the offense, which came to life against the Redskins on Monday. It was a celebrated rejuvenation that actually was confined to a one-quarter flurry of three touchdowns in a seven-minute span.
But it will be an even bigger test of Nagy’s ability to get his team as focused as he is for a critical early-season game. With his reputation as a quarterback guru/offensive innovator shaky right now, Nagy’s ability to set the tone for a big game is his strongest suit.
After guiding the Bears to a 12-4 record last season, these are relatively rough waters for Nagy. His offense has taken more steps backward than forward so far. The Bears are 2-1 but have beaten only the winless Broncos and Redskins. Trubisky still is 27th in the NFL in passer rating. Even good news is tinged with lament: Jordan Howard scored three touchdowns, one on a 20-yard reception, to lead the Eagles to victory Thursday against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
Trubisky and the offense remain a work in progress, but Nagy’s biggest challenge Sunday will be inspiring his team to respond to the urgency of the moment. It’s what he does well, maybe what he does best.
‘‘He’s a good example of a natural-born leader,’’ tight end Ben Braunecker said. ‘‘I think maybe a fault in coaching is to come up with a catchphrase that you really like and then repeat it over and over again and beat it to death.
‘‘With Nagy, he comes up with something usually different every week that’s relevant, and he’ll set the tone at the beginning of the week with it. And then we all get the message and he doesn’t need to reinforce it, like, every hour or something like that.’’
The message this week?
‘‘Defend Soldier Field is the really big, important point for us this week, just because of the disappointment with the Green Bay game,’’ Braunecker said. ‘‘We’re setting a new tone of goals to win every single game at Soldier Field. He’s big on that this week.’’
