Midway through the third quarter, the Bears faced fourth-and-10 from the 33-yard line.
Rather than kick a 51-yard field goal into the south end zone, Matt Nagy decided to go for it — and quarterback Mitch Trubisky threw a three-yard pass.
Down only four, why didn’t he let rookie kicker Eddy Pineiro try a field goal?
Nagy said the kick was beyond the yardage number given to him by special teams coordinator at the end of halftime. Special teams coaches traditionally give their bosses a distance limit — the yardage from where their kicker feels comfortable, given the conditions — at the start of every half.
“Yeah, we weren’t at our number — what we said at halftime during the beginning of the game,” Nagy said. So we knew already that on third down if we don’t get it, we’re going for it.”
But isn’t Pineiro known for having a strong leg?
“He does have a big leg,” he said. “I don’t think the number matters as much as it is really ... I’m just putting trust into what our special teams coaches are saying, and so if they feel like at one end it’s different than the other — that’s just what he told me — and we have to stick by it. If we start breaking that and start reaching and we go out there and he kicks a 51-yarder and misses it and now they get the ball at that spot, it just breaks our rules.”
Nagy said all week that he wanted to be aggressive, saying he was more worried about touchdowns than field goals. Thursday night was proof.
