To the shock of Bears fans everything, the offense looked competent from the start in Sunday’s win over the Lions.
The reason? Head coach Matt Nagy handed play-calling duties over to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor — for the second time in the last year.
While Nagy was intent on keeping the play caller under wraps, due to whatever advantage he thought he was getting, it was pretty obvious following Chicago’s first drive of the game.
The Bears marched 75 yards down the field in 12 plays — including nine runs — for a David Montgomery touchdown. But it was in the eye test. The offense found a rhythm it lacked since last season — the last time Nagy handed over play calling to Lazor.
Rookie quarterback Justin Fields was a direct beneficiary of the change, where he had a gameplan that catered to his strengths and allowed him time to take some deep shots and connect on them.
When Fields was asked Lazor calling plays, he noted a big difference between Lazor and Nagy.
“You know, Bill, he’s up in the box, so his voice is always calm,” Fields said. “That’s the one thing I like. Coach (Nagy), it’s hard for him to be calm if he has focus on the defense, focus on special teams. (Lazor’s) voice is calm. He’s up there in the box seeing the field well and he did a great job calling plays today.”
While Fields did his best not to throw Nagy under the bus, his comments were quite telling. Fields liked the calmness of Lazor’s delivery compared to the wildness of Nagy, whose first obligation should be to serve as head coach, not an offensive play caller.
It’s safe to assume Lazor will be the play caller moving forward following Sunday’s performance. The hope is it’ll once again be Fields under center, although Nagy appears determined for it to be Andy Dalton.
