(670 The Score) "The details in this offense are not there. That's our job as coaches, that we get these freaking details right. It's as simple as that. Darn it, when you play in this offense, you better be freaking detailed. And we're not a detailed football team on offense right now."
Those were Bears coach Matt Nagy's words on Oct. 9.
Darn it, indeed. Still, even after 10 days to figure it out and practice it and coach it. Dadgummit and consarnit, while we're at it. This isn't good, even after Chicago's 23-16 win at Carolina on Sunday improved the Bears' record to an increasingly improbable 5-1. It was an exhibition of what they are right now, which is pretty much just a great pass rush with some aggressive defenders behind it, a punter and maybe for now a not-awful kicker.
Everything else runs the gamut from merely desultory and unreliable to outright maddening. Here was the 25th-ranked run defense in the entire league in the Panthers, and the Bears' 25 carries netted them just 63 yards. We can't pass off such inefficiency as the product of facing a sturdy opponent like the Colts or Buccaneers. This was the week to prove otherwise, alas.
I have no answer for how some of the Bears' plays are called relative to score or situation, nor the choices of personnel to execute them. Too many actions seem overcomplicated, slow to develop and way too cute, especially when simple can be better. If the details are such a problem, why make so many so important all the time? Enough of the passes behind the line of scrimmage to Anthony Miller, who continues to lack awareness of where he is on the field and needs to go. Enough clock-stopping run-pass options when trying to bleed time with a lead and enough of Demetrius Harris doing anything.
We keep hearing how this is a difficult and ongoing process for the Bears to install some kind of functioning offensive system, even in the third year. Nagy has his veteran quarterback, a cadre of well-regarded assistants and plenty of viable targets at the skill positions, and it ends up being the same porridge of bad timing and mistakes that make watching this team little more than a chore.
Some sequences stand out more than others. The very first drive after the early interception Sunday gave us a delay-of-game penalty coming immediately after the Bears' own timeout, bailed out by a perfect touchdown pass from Nick Foles to Cole Kmet. But the fourth quarter -- the time for Nagy and his offense to wrest the game away with at least one defining drive -- was all too representative of their ongoing problems.
With 7:46 remaining and the Bears starting at their own 25-yard line while leading 23-16, they managed one first down before ending up with a third-and-3 at their own 43. Incomplete pass intended for Allen Robinson, punt and just 2:34 off the clock. The defense got the ball back for the Bears (thanks in part to an overthrow by Teddy Bridgewater that DJ Moore dropped), who took over at their own 38 with the score the same, needing a mere first down to end it. What do they do?
Seven-yard run, one-yard run, incomplete pass looking for Robinson on a short crossing route and another punt, chewing up a total of 23 seconds, giving the opponent 1:32 for a last-chance drive. Competent offenses don't let that happen.
This is why Nagy is here, remember, for that kind of competence. He seems to be a very good head coach, some clock management and replay challenge issues notwithstanding. He's a likable leader -- well-spoken and accountable, and it's clear that his players remain bought in. I'll even grant that he may have a mind for offensive design and play construction too.
But it keeps not working when the games start. Something breaks down when what's in Nagy's head and on his card has to actually be performed on the field, by the human beings he chooses to deploy for the various roles. We all knew that Sunday was the best chance yet for something -- anything -- to come together and stay there in a satisfying way that could give us optimism that the Bears will score enough points to take pressure off a defense doing all the hard stuff.
The Rams, Saints, Titans and Packers loom ahead. For the Bears, 5-1 is something to celebrate in the moment -- but not as a definition of their current quality.
The Bears don't need words and practices and more talk of details, they'll need many more touchdowns.
Dan Bernstein is the host of the Dan Bernstein Show on middays from 9 a.m. until noon on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.
