Preseason Week 2 - Bears vs Tru Believers

[soulman]

3 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

These games are vanilla offenses vs vanilla defenses playing mostly 3rd string nobodies and are in no way meant to inspire a reaction from fans or players in no way, shape, or form and it's always been this way.

I believe you're missing my entire point about being prepared to win.

Whether you're playing starters or your backups and nobodies the idea is to prepare them to win the game or at least put in a decent effort in the process of losing it.

How do you properly evaluate a player unless he's been prepared to play well enough to win. I want to know what excuses you can give when he's not?  Is it his fault or yours?

Suppose I'm auditioning a musician for my band.  If I want to evaluate him properly I provide him with a list of maybe a half dozen tunes we'll run through during the audition, the key they're in, and even provide him with a recording of the basic arrangement we use so he can hear it and put that in his head prior to the audition as well. 

I want him to do well and succeed so I give him all of the help I can because I'm expecting him to succeed.  If he does that reflects well on both of us.  If he doesn't whose to blame if I prepared the right ingredients and some instruction on how to combine them.  Him right?  But what if I never did any of that for him and he comes in blind and under prepared?

Is that all his fault?

The key expectation of Matt Nagy for 2021 is for his offense to show massive progress over his past two seasons.  So far I'd say he's not off to a very good start because every team is running those same vanilla plays and succeeding with them whereas the Bears are not.  So it's not the W/L record in preseason.  It's the progress you can see.....and the lack thereof.

[soulman]

Lemme just add that while I'm still basically apathetic about this season (does that make me an apathist?   🤣) I still care enough about the future of the team to be critical when it's deserved just as I will be complimentary when it's been earned.  IMHO we should all be.

Matt Nagy was hired both for his supposed offensive acumen and for his perceived ability to develop Mitch Trubisky into a franchise QB.  To date he's failed at both and I sure as hell don't want to see him fail with Fields as well or keep putting his failed offense on the field each week.

I'll be thrilled to give Matt Nagy kudos just as soon as he's earned a few.  Until then I'm far more likely to be critical of his coaching and decision making than I am likely to be complimentary.

[BeaReylo]

 

[soulman]

For all who feel that preseason is somewhat meaningless I would like you to read this article and honestly tell me whether you're hearing anything come out of Nagy's mouth he hasn't been saying for the past two preseasons as well and also many times into the regular season.

It's almost like one of those "B" horror movies where you want to yell "don't got down into the basement" or "no, not the attic", or "don't open that closet door" because you already know exactly what's gonna happen.  It's a scripted formula for scary horror with enough blood and guts to make you want to puke.  Matt Nagy's comments and his teams are getting this predictable too.

 

Lack of details hampers Chicago Bears once again

ByUsayd Koshul Aug 23, 8:00 AM

 

(Photo: © Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports, 247Sports)

 

 

 

CHICAGO, Ill. — Preseason games are usually dress rehearsals for NFL clubs to prepare for what is always a long and grueling regular season. The same applies for the Chicago Bears, who were faltered at home in a 41-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Throughout the afternoon, Chicago's lack of execution was on display, including punting on three of the Bears' first four possessions while finishing the game with 10 penalties for 73 yards.

Four years into the Matt Nagy era, the same issues remain. Mediocre quarterback play, shaky offensive line play, and questionable playcalling. All three facets also impact the running and game, limiting potential of players such as David Montgomery, Allen Robinson, and Darnell Mooney. Lack of attention to detail hurt the Bears' ability to execute once again.

 

There were some silver linings for Chicago, including two takeaways, a 73-yard touchdown, and undrafted free agent outside linebacker Charles Snowden and defensive lineman Sam Kamara totaling one tackle for loss each. Any silver linings were overshadowed by plays where dropped passes, blown coverages, and missed assignments were prevalent all afternoon. 

"There was more stuff that was not good, the penalties for us offensively was one step forward and two steps back," Nagy said. "We want to make sure the discipline of making sure, like there was no rhythm today at all. We didn’t have the rhythm."

(huh? Does he ever go back and listen to what he said.  To be honest he shouldn't have to because by now he's said it at least 100 times before.  Great Matt, we get it.  Now, when can we expect you to fix it?  Four years is a long time to be watching the exact same phuc ups.)

 

No rhythm was apparent from the very beginning when Chicago ran just 13 plays before finally quarterback Andy Dalton hit wide receiver Rodney Adams for a 73-yard touchdown, the only time Chicago would find the endzone in the first half. The next two possessions would see the Bears with a turnover on downs and interception, before turning the reigns over to rookie Justin Fields to start the second half.

With Fields playing, the Bears did show signs of life but it was too little too late. Rookie running back Khalil Herbert scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown to give Chicago some life in the fourth quarter but the game was pretty much over, even with Fields battling to give the Bears a chance.

 

16COMMENTS

"Overall, I’m happy that it’s preseason so we can evaluate because, in the end, I know we want to win and evaluate, but it’s like last week, I know there is a high but you have to be careful," Nagy said. "We want to make sure we stay in the middle ground and make sure we know that today was not good enough. That’s my job to make sure that we are better. We have to practice better, play the game better and in the end, the evaluation process is to see where these guys are and now we are a week away from making more decisions."

(And yet another word salad paragraph that says nothing we haven't heard before so while he may be happy it's preseason someone how oddly enough all of this crap always leaks over into the regular season simply because it never gets fixed during preseason. Staying in middle ground is the story of your career as Bears HC.  You and your team have become Mr Mediocre)

Roughly three weeks remain until the start of the regular season, giving the Bears plenty of time to get the offense figured out, including any details that were missing on Saturday afternoon. Beyond just fixing penalties and being able to execute at a high level, the Bears must also showcase consistency on offense, a trait that wasn't prevalent on Saturday or throughout the Nagy era.

(Yeah, well good luck with that eh!)

[Sugashane]

9 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

The last thing I care about in preseason is winning or losing. Box scores are meaningless. You can't use preseason as a way to judge how a team will play in the regular season, and we've seen too many examples as to why.

Yeah, the penalties were frustrating. Not just the absurd amount but level of stupidity of some of them at the wrong time and this falls solely on the coaching staff...absolutely... I agree wholeheartedly with this.

That said, I'm not ready to start arming pitchforks over what happens in week 2 of a preseason game either. Especially when you take a step back and look at where the penalties came from and who was on the field at the time. All but one penalty happened when the majority of players on the field were fringe players battling for a roster spot and it's very unlikely that we'll see this group come September. It's something to keep an eye on but I'm not overly concerned about it yet either. If we start seeing an abundance of penatlies from starters and vets then I'll get worried.

The 2nd offsides penalty was on Attaochu. The 3rd holding penalty was on Gipson, 4th was on Jesse James, 5th was holding in the secondary but the refs never said who it was on and Ive looked at the play several times and I cant see holding anywhere. The 6th illegal formation was on Horstead/Adams. The 7th was Jesse James again. The 8th was on Bars. 9th was on Lacy. 10th was unnecessary roughness that apprently must've happened somewhere in the parking lot. The 11th and 12th were on Albright.

These games are vanilla offenses vs vanilla defenses playing mostly 3rd string nobodies and are in no way meant to inspire a reaction from fans or players in no way, shape, or form and it's always been this way.
As I said before, see the Browns and Lions in recent past. How "inspired" do you think their teams and fan bases were when they went 4-0 in the preseason and ended up being the only 2 teams in history to go 0-16 in the regular season? Conversely, how "inspired" do you think the 1-3 Chiefs were to start the season in 2019 when they went on to go 15-4 enroute to a SB win?

Preseason games are meant for coaching evaluation purposes ONLY. Coaches and set starters are not going hard 100% to win (unless your Dennis Green-RIP). There is literally no benefit to risking an injury in a meaningless game. These games are meant to put (mainly bubble players) in real game situations to judge their health, how they move, how quick they absorb info from film, and to see how they perform in particular sets, formations, downs, distance, etc....and against players with a particular height, build, weight, skill set, etc.

This kind of info lets the staff know things such as .... "alright, X person's arm or leg really is fine and he wasn't just feeding Doc some BS out of fear of not getting a shot".  Or, "okay, X has a small frame but he held up well against a physical player with 2 inches of height and 25 more pounds on him in a short 3rd down play in short zone coverage even if he wasn't even targeted. We may only have 6 plays in the playbook that call for a 6 DBs but he looks like he could be the best one we have right now for this spot here and someone we could possibly develop into some more in the future" Ect, etc....
 

Agree with the win/loss point. I'm happier with a solid effort and a close loss rather than a sloppy win over a team that looked incompetent - in the preseason at least. While it isn't a good way to gauge how a season will go, it does IMO act as a platform for depth. I'm not seeing many people pop, but I am seeing a lot of undisciplined play.

Two weeks of preseason isn't a major point to me either, it is the lack of attention to detail and effort. You're 100% right, it is just vanilla offense and defense. But Desai needs to do at least some adjustments. From the clips I saw Tru was getting slant after slant. If you know that he is in a rhythym in the short game and have years of seeing him sail deep passes or outside the numbers, why not get some situational work in? Make the CBs press hard inside and force the WRs to the outside. Spread the OLBs or shift a bit to the strong side, little things to force the defense to adjust and have more structure. If you see X can't force his guy inside then you know he may be an offball only kind of guy, or see who can stay in his man's frame, etc. Hell preset calls to know what targeted roles are, idc. Test them in various ways and do a proper review, then grade them on their tasks. You may find someone excels in a specific role. To me that is what preseason is about, testing your players and coaches, while resting the entrenched guys.

Exactly why it is crazy to see that Mack was in, or why the safeties were still in while there was 9 back ups in front of them. I'm sure they had some sort of reason, but what the hell was it? You're thin in the backfield as is, why risk the safeties or Mack when there is literally only one CB that seems to be ready to hold his own? It just seems bizarre.

Agreed. Goes right with the role comment I said.

 

7 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

I think that’s what he wants, but I also think he’s already realized that Andy Dalton isn’t 2017 Alex Smith too. Don’t think for a minute that he and his squad getting booed mercilessly at home by 60k fans week 2 if Dalton is starting (especially if it follows an underwhelming offensive performance week 1) won’t factor in here either. He shouldn’t bow to the wants and whims of the masses, but that’s a tough line to hold too especially when you’re doing so with Andy frickin’ Dalton. 

The mob is real, and impatient. I still think Pace bought himself at least another year with the Fields pick, but I don't see how or why Nagy would have gained any slack from the pick. He had Tru for 3 years and he regressed under him. He got his vets in Daniel, Foles, and now Dalton. Now he has a new potential franchise QB in Fields. This year he needs to either put up or get put out (last year was the year to me, but whatever). IDC about the OL, IDC about individual stats. Get yards and points, and show you're better than last year. If not, Nagy serves no purpose. He rode the defense to his 28-22 record (counting the postseason losses), he hasn't been even a .500 HC imo. Right now he is above Fox and Tresman but well behind Lovie. He's personally ranking close to Jauron atm for me.

[JAF-N72EX]

8 hours ago, soulman said:

Isn't it time for a change?

I f Nagy can't get this offense to atleast an average level by the end of the season than he needs to go. I've said this multiple times and I'm pretty sure I said it again earlier in this very same thread.

Make no mistake, I am no Nagy apologists by any means whatsoever. I used to break down every game and I have been criticizing his play-calling since day one in 2018, LONG before the media and fans caught on and were making excuses for him. Even on this site, I'm sure you can go thru my post history and find me criticizing him pretty easily. While every single person here was happy with Nagy and making excuses for him and telling me to give Mitch time.......I was the only one pointing out that both of them were the problem from jump.

EDIT: A quick search found one thread. I posted the following on Sept 18th, 2018.

https://forums.footballsfuture.com/topic/12488-what-if-mitch-is-not-the-guy/page/2/

Quote

Unless Mitch learns to settle down in the pocket and keep calm in pressure situations he will not succeed in this league(National TV, 3rd downs in close games, late game drives, etc). And I'm sorry, but those are traits that cannot be taught. I have yet to see a single QB in the NFL, who panics and has happy feet like he does, who has been able to turn it around and become successful. 

Nagy was brought in as a supposed offensive guru....then let's see him work his magic. But so far, I am personally not impressed. Your QB is not supposed to be missing some of the throws and reads that he did in that game. 

That said, I am also taking into consideration that this game was in a loud Lambeau field on national television, so I'll give him a slight benefit of the doubt this week. But he better show something next week against Seattle because if not, its going to start to remind me alot of Cutler who would show promise in local games but completely sucked on national TV.

My point is, I'm at wits end with Nagy too but I'm not going to hold a 2nd week of preseason while playing nobodies against him either.

 

1 hour ago, Sugashane said:

While it isn't a good way to gauge how a season will go, it does IMO act as a platform for depth. I'm not seeing many people pop, but I am seeing a lot of undisciplined play.

I dont disagree with this. Yes, we lack depth....but haven't we've known this all offseason? Why is it a surprise now?

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JAF-N72EX

[soulman]

4 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

My point is, I'm at wits end with Nagy too but I'm not going to hold a 2nd week of preseason while playing nobodies against him either.

Maybe the most annoying fact, and I'm sure you agree, if the rinse and repeat dysfunction and lack of discipline that invariably leads to penalties and blown assignments.  Second week of preseason stuff then bleeds over into regular season any time you have your guys failing to get it right.  According to what I read earlier the first post game practice this week was more of the same.  They aren't seeming to improve any.

Nagy has often talked about the precision needed to run his offense successfully.  Each player doing exactly what that play calls for them to do all the way from blocking assignments to the precise depth of a receivers route to the timing of the throw yet we seldom if ever see that kind of precision.  If your guys can't execute your schemes and plays what good are they to anyone?

Matt Nagy may be a terrific offensive theoretician but if his offense requires 11 All Pros all working in perfect sync every play he's not only gonna fail here but he won't succeed with his offense anywhere.  Vince Lombardi only ran about 15 basic offensive plays which his guys learned to execute with perfection.  He ran those plays all game long and dared you to stop 'em.  Few teams could and he won far more than he lost including two Super Bowls.

I realize that it was a long time ago but I don't believe it's any different today. Base your offense on what your team can do well not what you wish they could do well.  It's that simple point that I believe evades Matt Nagy.  He wants to prove his way works yet he's either not skilled enough as a coach to make it all work his way or too stubborn to alter his way to something that does work.  Preseason or not this offense looks just like the last two and IMHO that's not good.

Edited August 25, 2021 by soulman

[soulman]

4 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

I dont disagree with this. Yes, we lack depth....but haven't we've known this all offseason? Why is it a surprise now?

But why do we lack adequate depth?  There is no way to avoid preseason injuries anymore than they can be avoided all season long.  Not if guys are out there doing contact drills in practice and taking snaps during preseason games.  We need better player preparation not excuses.

Second line players and depth need to be prepared just as well as starters.  Why were Buffalo's backups and camp fodder better prepared to execute than ours?  IMHO this is not something unreasonable to expect a coaching staff to do especially when you're playing "vanilla football" running stuff all of them should have known how to execute since playing HS ball.

Maybe Pace needs to chime in on this and explain his theories on personnel management.

Is he too forward focused on drafting and signing guys with high ceilings and low floors who are all boom or bust.  Is he too focused on over the top athleticism and not enough on basic football skills and football IQ?  How can guys who've been playing for 3-4 years in HS and another 3-5 in college fail at executing basic assignments on plays they've run for years?

Again, it's the rinse and repeat nature of what we've seen each preseason for three years now that has me questioning whether this symbiosis between Pace and Nagy is ever gonna work.

[BeaReylo]

15 hours ago, soulman said:

 Matt Nagy may be a terrific offensive theoretician but if his offense requires 11 All Pros all working in perfect sync every play he's not only gonna fail here but he won't succeed with his offense anywhere.  Vince Lombardi only ran about 15 basic offensive plays which his guys learned to execute with perfection.  He ran those plays all game long and dared you to stop 'em.  Few teams could and he won far more than he lost including two Super Bowls.

I realize that it was a long time ago but I don't believe it's any different today. Base your offense on what your team can do well not what you wish they could do well.  It's that simple point that I believe evades Matt Nagy.  He wants to prove his way works yet he's either not skilled enough as a coach to make it all work his way or too stubborn to alter his way to something that does work.  Preseason or not this offense looks just like the last two and IMHO that's not good.

I like Nagy and all but his problem is he knows an outstanding offense but if everything doesn't go according to plan then he hasn't a clue what to do.  It's baker vs chef scenario.  A baker follows their recipe to a tee to get the end result.  If everything isn't done accordingly then the batch is ruined and there's no plan b.  A baker's mind set is follow the recipe axactly and never deviate.  Matt knows a great offense but didn't create it himself.  Sure he may have put his own wrinkles in it but this is Andy Reid's recipe. Andy is a chef who can improvise if they don't have all the listed ingredients or make alterations as they go and still get a great or even better result. 

Kyle Shannahan  is another example.  He started out as a Padawan but eventually became a Jedi master who understood and controled the force with Yoda like skill and nuance.  Even without his ideal quarterback he improvised and made chicken salad out of chicken feathers and brought his team to a Superbowl with an average signal caller and still had an innovative offense because as a true master altered his recipe to what was available to him.

Granted a lot of coaches can't run their offense without the right QB to run it and once they find him they can at least have a serviceable to solid unit.  But that's what separates the good from the great.  If Fields is the right fit, and considering he was drafted by Nagy and not inherited like Trubisky he better be, then he should be a marketable step because Matty boy can follow his recipe more closely finally having his most important and biggest ingredient.  At least that's what I want because I want The Bears to have a winning season this year.

[abstract_thought]

One thing I'll never understand is this forum's fawning over Kyle Shanahan, an offensive guru who's had 1 season in the top half of the league in Total Offense.

[soulman]

1 hour ago, FosterTheSkins said:

I like Nagy and all but his problem is he knows an outstanding offense but if everything doesn't go according to plan then he hasn't a clue what to do.  It's baker vs chef scenario.  A baker follows their recipe to a tee to get the end result.  If everything isn't done accordingly then the batch is ruined and there's no plan b.  A baker's mind set is follow the recipe axactly and never deviate.  Matt knows a great offense but didn't create it himself.  Sure he may have put his own wrinkles in it but this is Andy Reid's recipe. Andy is a chef who can improvise if they don't have all the listed ingredients or make alterations as they go and still get a great or even better result. 

Kyle Shannahan  is another example.  He started out as a Padawan but eventually became a Jedi master who understood and controled the force with Yoda like skill and nuance.  Even without his ideal quarterback he improvised and made chicken salad out of chicken feathers and brought his team to a Superbowl with an average signal caller and still had an innovative offense because as a true master altered his recipe to what was available to him.

Granted a lot of coaches can't run their offense without the right QB to run it and once they find him they can at least have a serviceable to solid unit.  But that's what separates the good from the great.  If Fields is the right fit, and considering he was drafted by Nagy and not inherited like Trubisky he better be, then he should be a marketable step because Matty boy can follow his recipe more closely finally having his most important and biggest ingredient.  At least that's what I want because I want The Bears to have a winning season this year.

This is a great post with some spot on observations but what I fear is that Nagy will do with Fields what he also did with Trubisky and stifle much of what Fields can do extremely well by improvising when it's called for.

This was a concern that Aaron Rodgers also had with Matt Lafleur because he did not run an offense that was as much of a fit for Rodgers as he was accustomed to.  Aaron likes to improvise and he's quite good at it.

They worked it out prior to last season and Rodgers had an MVP year with a brand new HC. 

My concern is that Nagy will once again prove far less open to change than LaFleur was and it will eventually impact Fields confidence and development as it did Mitch's unless he far better at pushing back against it.

It's finally dawned on me that Matt Nagy is actually quite insecure about his schemes now that he's no longer under Andy Reid's "umbrella".  One major indication of this is his taking back the play calling last year prior to the playoffs.

Lazor was succeeding putting points on the board that Nagy seemed unable to.  This makes Nagy look less competent as a play caller so he fails to do what's best for his team in lieu of doing what seems best for Matt Nagy.

NFL coaches are just as subject to "The Peter Principle" as players and I believe Matt Nagy has risen to the level of his own incompetence.  He's been given 3 years to grow as an NFL HC and frankly I don't see any growth.

He has, and I believe he will continue to stick with only that which is within his own comfort zone expecting his team to "buy in" when anyone with decent eyesight can see they have not always done that.

Foles has criticized him.  Mitch chafed quite a bit trying to do it Nagy's way.  I suspect we may hear some of the same from Andy Dalton before all is said and done and eventually Fields will stop saying the right things and want to do what's right instead just as Mitch did.

It may seem premature but if Matt Nagy was my poker hand I'd fold the hand after this season.

 

[Sugashane]

2 hours ago, abstract_thought said:

One thing I'll never understand is this forum's fawning over Kyle Shanahan, an offensive guru who's had 1 season in the top half of the league in Total Offense.

So I'll just look at PPG for a rebuttal.

Last year they were 21st but Nick Mullens started 8 games and Beathard started 2. Neither is better than any QB we have had start a game the last 3 years.

2019 they had the 2nd most points with Jimmy G at the helm. I don't consider him to be a franchise QB and the only elite talent they had in any skill position was Kittle IMO.

2018 they had Mullens start 8 games and Beathard start 5, and still scored the 21st most points.

 

So while your statement is 100% true, context means a lot here. IDK how many HCs could get the scoring better than 20 in the 2018 and 2020 seasons with that level of QB talent. Tru, Foles, Dalton, and Daniel are all better and with them there would be a jump. Nagy would have had them in the 30-32 range to me. Reid, McVay, Payton, McDaniels would all have had a hell of a time trying to get more out of such a weak group. But in that one season he had an average starting QB for the whole season they put up the 2nd most PPG. Nagy by comparison had more talent around the QB and got to 9th once when the defense scored like 5-6 TDs.

Shanahan hasn't quite earned the offensive guru label but is a hell of a lot closer and more proven than Nagy. He implements a system and adjusts it well enough that it works without elite talent. At minimum he is a highly competent offensive mind. Nagy has shown little to suggest he was more than a Reid puppet that we fell for.

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

6 hours ago, Sugashane said:

Shanahan hasn't quite earned the offensive guru label but is a hell of a lot closer and more proven than Nagy. He implements a system and adjusts it well enough that it works without elite talent. At minimum he is a highly competent offensive mind. Nagy has shown little to suggest he was more than a Reid puppet that we fell for.

There's also the element of an eye test, watching 9ers games you can tell they're changing the plan week to week and to fit the personnel.  When they seemed to be missing half their offense they seemed to be building offensive plays around the good guys that were still standing.  I say this a lot, but I still don't know what Nagy's offense is after 3 years; sometimes he seems to craft a beautiful play that's failed because Foles dumped it off or Mitch was aiming at the jumbotron, but other times I see plays that I know are dead before the snap.  Maybe with decent QB play we find out this year, also I said the same thing last year.

[abstract_thought]

7 hours ago, Sugashane said:

So I'll just look at PPG for a rebuttal.

Last year they were 21st but Nick Mullens started 8 games and Beathard started 2. Neither is better than any QB we have had start a game the last 3 years.

2019 they had the 2nd most points with Jimmy G at the helm. I don't consider him to be a franchise QB and the only elite talent they had in any skill position was Kittle IMO.

2018 they had Mullens start 8 games and Beathard start 5, and still scored the 21st most points.

 

So while your statement is 100% true, context means a lot here. IDK how many HCs could get the scoring better than 20 in the 2018 and 2020 seasons with that level of QB talent. Tru, Foles, Dalton, and Daniel are all better and with them there would be a jump. Nagy would have had them in the 30-32 range to me. Reid, McVay, Payton, McDaniels would all have had a hell of a time trying to get more out of such a weak group. But in that one season he had an average starting QB for the whole season they put up the 2nd most PPG. Nagy by comparison had more talent around the QB and got to 9th once when the defense scored like 5-6 TDs.

Shanahan hasn't quite earned the offensive guru label but is a hell of a lot closer and more proven than Nagy. He implements a system and adjusts it well enough that it works without elite talent. At minimum he is a highly competent offensive mind. Nagy has shown little to suggest he was more than a Reid puppet that we fell for.

Then again - if we acknowledge all of those things for Shanahan, we have to also acknowledge the QB situation here in Chicago. Who wouldn't take their offensive personnel over ours?

I agree that he's better than Nagy. But the way some Bears fans talk about him, you'd think he could turn Joe Webb into Joe Montana. Shanahan hasn't earned that respect just yet.

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, RunningVaccs said:

There's also the element of an eye test, watching 9ers games you can tell they're changing the plan week to week and to fit the personnel.  When they seemed to be missing half their offense they seemed to be building offensive plays around the good guys that were still standing.  I say this a lot, but I still don't know what Nagy's offense is after 3 years; sometimes he seems to craft a beautiful play that's failed because Foles dumped it off or Mitch was aiming at the jumbotron, but other times I see plays that I know are dead before the snap.  Maybe with decent QB play we find out this year, also I said the same thing last year.

The bolded part made me legitimately laugh.

I think we got a decent glimpse of what Nagy wants the offense to be in 2018 with a lot of movement, jet sweep action, misdirection, intricate play design inside the 10, schemed shot plays, etc. I think he lost confidence in running them with Mitch, and coupled with an overall lack of team speed just went into a shell with a lot of it.

He’s a Reid disciple - I picture the pre-snap movement Reid uses with Hill and Hardman to be something Nagy wants to use with Mooney, Goodwin and/or Byrd. It just wasn’t going to work the same way with Anthony Miller. Off of that action you open up off guard, trap and counter runs, quick dart throws to a slanting TE, shovel pass, play action, bootleg, etc., almost none of which we’ve had at our disposal. Defensive conflict like is created with that action with that speed creates a ton of opportunities for the chunk plays Fields and even Dalton can hit that Mitch just couldn’t.

It doesn’t have to play out like Madden on rookie mode for it to matter - adding one or two significant chunk plays per game and an extra 3rd down conversion or two is enough to make a significant difference both on the scoreboard and how we’re defended by our opponents especially after we get Fields’ running ability added into the equation. With improved confidence in the QB and speed at WR, regardless of which QB that is, I think (hope) we see more of that type of stuff come out from Nagy. To me that stuff is a lot of what makes KC’s offense as consistently effective as it is.