After a tumultuous week, the Bears’ head coach felt the support of his players in a 16-14 win over the Lions. « They told me they were going to do it and they did it. How cool is that? »
After a tumultuous and chaotic week at Halas Hall, the Bears rallied around their beleaguered head coach Thursday at Ford Field — and barely squeaked by a winless Lions team that at times seemed trying harder to lose than to win. But Matt Nagy will take it. A win is a win, and Nagy gladly accepted the Bears’ 16-14 victory over the Lions on Cairo Santos’ 28-yard field goal as time expired as a show of support in a time of uncertainty. “I do, and not just me,” Nagy said. “The other part of this, too, is as Ryan [general manager Ryan Pace] and I do this thing together, they rallied around all of us — not just me, the coaches. In the coaching world, you have assistant coaches, so we’re all part of this thing. And we’re all working together here and I think that’s what’s impressive.” The shaky victory was unlikely a game-changer for Nagy. But he’s so focused on the moment — to his credit, but also perhaps to a fault — that it doesn’t matter. His team won Thursday. And he wasn’t fired. What a relief? “No, it’s just joy,” Nagy said. “The biggest part for me — and I’m not built this way about being selfish — this is about the team.
