NEWSLETTER
Sure, the Chicago Bears would be 4-0 had they simply beaten the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. But who’s to say that loss hasn’t pushed this team to where it is today (butterfly wings and whatnot)?
Chicago sports media personality David Kaplan sat down with Matt Nagy as part of an interview that will be part of NBC Sports Chicago’s “Inside Look” series that will air later in the year. Among the highlights is a retrospective look at Week 1’s loss in Green Bay from Nagy, who explained what his team has shown him in bouncing back from that gut-wrenching loss.
“We really wanted to win that game. We didn’t. There are reasons why. What are those reasons why? And how do we use that to our benefit down the road,” Nagy said. “That was a big challenge to us as a team, is how were we going to respond? Going into Week 2, big game at home, we responded with a win. That showed me, as a young team with a lot of talent and great character, they responded the right way, they listened to our message as coaches, and we’re growing each and every week.”
So it turns out the Packers loss wasn’t the end of the world, even if it felt like it at the time. Watching the Bears close out the Seahawks in Week 2, show an ability to overcome adversity and come from behind on the road to beat the Cardinals, and display the capacity to dominate a game from the outset (on both sides of the ball) has me feeling better about this team moving forward. It’s as if that Packers loss was a necessary evil, even if I hated watching it unfold in real-time at Lambeau Field.
Nagy believes the defeat could fuel something special down the road, saying the loss provided a silver lining that could emerge somewhere down the road. Bitter defeats are never embraced or even welcome, but Nagy insists on using them to his team’s advantage whenever possible.
The nearly nine-minute snippet is a small snap shot, it provides an intriguing look behind the curtain that has us looking forward to November. For more, you’ll want to give this a listen and check your local listings for the “Inside Look” that features the full interview come November.
