(670 The Score) It's fourth-and-1 at your own 36-yard line with 13 minutes, 31 seconds left in a game you trail the Packers, 38-27.
Not only is the outcome on the line but so is your job if you're Bears coach Matt Nagy.
You're closer to getting fired than you are to a first down, which sits just 36 inches away. A quarterback sneak. A David Montgomery dive. A running play that sends a statement about smash-mouth football.
But punt? Why? Why concede anything? Why remove any remaining doubt about your occasionally illogical game-management skills?
Why play it so safe with a lousy 4-8 record and an even lousier past against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers? In what football universe wouldn't the potential reward of keeping the chains moving in a two-possession game in the fourth quarter easily outweigh the risks of giving the ball back to Rodgers?
Are you daring the McCaskeys to make you the first head coach the Bears ever have fired in-season?
Apparently so.
"Thought about it," Nagy waffled about the dilemma to punt or go for it in a game the Bears eventually lost 45-30. "I don't think you're wrong if you go for it, but I don't think you're wrong if you punted."
Huh? If you like decisiveness, this isn't it. If you're looking for strong leadership, you won't find it here.
Nagy ordered the punt team onto the field, Pat O'Donnell uncorked a 46-yarder that Packers returner Amari Rodgers muffed and Bears running back Damien Williams recovered. But instead of the play letting Nagy off the hook with a fluky turnover, a penalty negated everything and the Packers got the ball back anyway after another O'Donnell punt.
All Rodgers did with that opportunity was orchestrate a 13-play, 71-yard touchdown drive that provided the dagger and ate up 8 minutes, 31 seconds – precious time that's running out fast for Nagy and likely others at Halas Hall after the Bears (4-9) were officially eliminated from NFC North title contention.
No, the Packers beating the Bears for the seventh time in Nagy's eight career meetings in the rivalry didn't come down to whether the head coach punted or went for it on that telling sequence. But it is significant that, when given the chance to go out with a whimper or a bang, Nagy chose the former over the latter.
A game during which a giddy Nagy told NBC sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen at halftime was so much "fun" for him turned into another torturous trip to Wisconsin. A night that began so boldly ended feebly, which, come to think of it, also describes Nagy's tenure over four seasons.
This wasn't the hostile takeover the Bears envisioned of Rodgers, who boldly said he owned the team when last they met at Soldier Field. This was Rodgers reasserting that he can say whatever he wants until the Bears put together a team good enough to shut him up, which still seems like a very long time away. This was the Bears failing to adjust at halftime like in so many other losses.
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Rodgers completed 29 of 37 passes for 341 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions – extending his streak to 184 pass attempts since throwing his last pick against the Bears, way back in 2018. Counterpart Justin Fields, returning from cracked ribs that he sustained on Nov. 21, experienced ups and downs in going 18-of-33 for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions – including one returned 55 yards for a touchdown by Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas.
That wasn't Nagy. That wasn't Pace. That wasn't Ted or George or your least favorite McCaskey. That was a rookie quarterback floating a ball toward Darnell Mooney that he never should've thrown, a changeup on a pass that needed to be a fastball, a throw Fields telegraphed from the second he took the snap. All Douglas did was his job, read the quarterback, plant his foot and drive toward the ball thrown right at him. By the end of Douglas' return for a touchdown, questions about Fields' accuracy had returned.
Fields showed resilience, recovering from that 14-10 deficit to hit speedster Damiere Byrd on a 54-yard catch-and-run play for a touchdown. Fields will be better for experiencing so many highs and lows in such an environment, but it was another outing mixed with as much improvement as inconsistency.
"That's growth for that kid," Nagy said. "The way he played the game today …He was smart when he ran the ball, I thought he did pretty good."
But before the development of Fields becomes the No. 1 long-term for the franchise, the Bears must determine in the short term who will develop him. With four games to go, that represents a long time to allow a lame-duck coach to be the daily spokesperson for the organization poised to send him packing. That represents a long stretch to let a guy identified as part of the problem try to find a solution.
If the McCaskeys have made up their minds that change is necessary – it's inconceivable how any football organization would consider the Bears are headed in the right direction – then the best move for everybody might be to act sooner rather than later. And if chairman George McCaskey considers Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace to be co-collaborators, a package deal, so be it. There's never a wrong time to do the right thing.
As for the nationally televised loss that made changes seem inevitable, at least it thoroughly entertained a football city for one half before devolving into another easy Packers victory. The Bears came out the first half more prepared and mentally sharp, like a team Chicago didn't recognize, only to come out in the second half like the team everybody remembered. But give the Bears credit for arriving with an obvious sense of urgency. Realistically, at 4-8, the only stakes involved pride and the Bears made clear in the first 30 minutes they still have an abundance of it left – for whatever that's worth.
Fields showed toughness from the opening drive, when the Bears oddly made no extra effort to protect him. Nagy's silly use of the T-formation, which no longer thrills the nation, was just as inexplicable.
But the offense produced points on the second series, albeit settling for a field goal instead of a touchdown after squandering a goal-to-go situation. Rookie Teven Jenkins, who struggled in his long-awaited debut with the No. 1 offense after Jason Peters' injury, jumped early for an illegal-procedure penalty – his first of three flags. Then on third down, tight end Cole Kmet muscled for inside position over the middle, but Fields just missed putting the ball where it needed to be. Jenkins, Kmet and Fields represent three core players for the Bears, but their youth and inexperience on that series specifically reminded everyone of the developmental nature of this season.
Jitterbug Jakeem Grant surprisingly gave the Bears an explosive element they've lacked all season, with a well-designed 46-yard touchdown reception that unfolded like a screen pass and a 97-yard punt return touchdown that provided a pretty good Devin Hester imitation. So that's why Grant routinely feels comfortable catching punts inside the 10, once considered a football no-no but now part of what makes Grant so dangerous? Grant made Bears history by recording the franchise's longest punt return ever. He's fearless, and that approach gave the Bears a spark the special teams outplayed the Packers.
"I had no plan at all," a bubbly Grant told reporters about his dazzling return. "It was beautiful."
Unfazed, Rodgers answered with a four-play, 48-second, 75-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams that caught the Bears in a mismatch. Adams lined up in the slot and, for reasons only Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai knows, nickel back Xavier Crawford tried covering the NFL's best all-around wide receiver instead of Jaylon Johnson, who had done a commendable job to that point on Adams. Rodgers can smell weakness from Manitowoc and targeted Adams all the way to cut a 10-point lead to a field goal.
Unexpectedly, the Packers trailed 27-21 at halftime, but they never appeared fazed because of the faith evident in coach Matt LaFleur and, of course, Rodgers. They found ways to stop Bears pass rusher Robert Quinn, who had two of the defense's three sacks, from wrecking the game. They put their heads together and did what good coaching staffs do. They adjusted.
The Packers methodically moved the ball down the field to score on the opening series of the third quarter, regaining the lead on an Aaron Jones three-yard touchdown run that capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 5 minutes, 36 seconds. Then it took only a few offensive snaps for the Bears to look so familiar and accentuate how far apart the rivals remain.
On the Bears' first snap of the second half when they finally got the ball, Nagy called a quarterback option that required Fields to take a hit before pitching to Grant. Even as explosive as the Bears were in the first half, when they matched their season-high point total with 27, I'm not sure an option play that exposes your rookie quarterback recovering from broken ribs is the smartest play to draw up at halftime.
And on the second play of the half, allowing Jenkins to block an elite pass rusher in Preston Smith without any help revealed little forethought. On cue, Smith sacked Fields and stripped the ball from him before Rashan Gary recovered the fumble at the Bears' 23-yard line.
It took one play for Rodgers to find Jones for a 23-yard touchdown pass that put the Packers back in command at 35-27, as they eventually outscored the Bears 17-0 in the third quarter. Whatever the Packers adjusted at halftime worked. Whatever the Bears discussed didn't.
One team solves problems, while the other keeps looking in vain for solutions.
What happened Sunday night at Lambeau Field only should accelerate the search.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on Twitter @DavidHaugh.
