Hub Arkush: Saints game is one Bears deserved to win
In the end the Chicago Bears 26-23 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints wasn't just a game the Bears could have won, it's one they should have won. That's what will make this one ache a lot more and a bit longer than last Monday night's embarrassment in Los Angeles.
This is who these Bears are - one of the best defenses in the league, capable of playing with and beating anyone on any given Sunday, and one of the most incompetent offenses in the league, capable of losing to any average or better team on any given day.
Let's stop all the silliness about writing off the second half of the season and assuming the Bears can't contend, while we also waste no more time thinking a great defense is enough by itself to get you to a Super Bowl.
The second half of the season is going to be a roller-coaster ride worth taking and whether or not there are more dips than climbs will be decided by how the Bears react to this loss.
The reason the Saints won and are one of the top teams in the league is because at almost every key turning point with a play to turn the game in their favor or against them, Sean Payton, Drew Brees and the rest found a play that worked.
In the same situations the Bears defense did the same, but the offense found a way to fail most of the time and most of the blame has to fall on Nick Foles.
Asked after the game about the lack of discipline and poor communication that continues to happen Nagy said, "There is issues there.
"That's what bothers me and that's what (ticks) me off, is that there is that issue still going on. Excuse my French.
"But, you know, we're reading it from a wristband. I'm struggling with that right now. It's getting you into a hole. And so, that has to change."
There is only one guy out there reading from his wristband and that's Foles. But he said after the game, "Yeah, we just need to communicate better, and that's something that we'll have to talk about as we go forward."
Nagy doesn't seem to blame the coaches and yet Foles is his guy.
He has done far more than Mitch Trubisky ever did to deserve to be yanked as Trubisky was for him.
It was particularly egregious Sunday, most notably in the middle of the third quarter when Foles threw a ludicrous interception to Marshon Lattimore that lead to a 39-yard Saints field goal to give them a 16-13 lead.
If Nagy didn't go to Trubisky Sunday, and he didn't, how are we to believe anything but Mitch is done as a Bear at least as long as Nagy's in charge?
Perhaps that's the right call, I don't know but it does take us right back to the top.
A defense that held Drew Brees to just 2-13 on third down Sunday and allowed him to reach the end zone just once in four trips inside the red zone deserved much better.
It deserved to win.
• Twitter: @ Hub_Arkush