I thought a running play in that situation would have been the best move. The defense, with the exception of the 42-yard touchdown reception by Ja’Marr Chase, had dominated throughout the game. As you pointed out, the Bears had a 10-point lead at the time. While running the ball would have given the offense a low-percentage chance of gaining the first down, it would have forced Bengals coach Zac Taylor to use his second timeout. Pat O’Donnell would have flipped the field for the Bears, and the Bengals probably would have started somewhere around their 35-yard line. That would have been a no-brainer to me. Nagy wanted to show confidence in Fields and give him a chance to run the four-minute offense. Naturally, he defended the play call after the game, which is what most coaches do. They make a decision and stand by it. I wonder, if he had it to do over again, if he would have handed the ball off to David Montgomery. As far as the comparison with the Pineiro situation, that’s a little bit apples to oranges. They were in a spot to win the game and felt they were in a good range for Pineiro. Would 2 or 3 more yards have made a difference? I don’t know.
