Matt Nagy & the Gadget Factory: How trick plays are giving the Bears more than just points on the scoreboard
Oh, that wacky Bears coach Matt Nagy. (Jose M. Osorio and Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Dirty diapers don't wait for Daddy to score a touchdown, especially when Daddy is a backup offensive tackle.
So when the Bears-Rams field-goal fest Sunday night at Soldier Field mercifully reached halftime, Brad Sowell's wife, Jessica, took their 5-month-old son from the stands down to the Bears family room to freshen him up.
Thank goodness there was a TV in there.
She was able to see her husband make a leaping touchdown catch on the latest gadget play dialed up by first-year coach Matt Nagy, a play called "Santa's Sleigh" that also included four defensive linemen in the formation.
She was able to see Brad — all 6-foot-7 and 312 pounds of him — do the touchdown dance he practiced with their 5- and 6-year-old daughters in their Chicago hotel room that afternoon.
It was an unforgettable moment for Sowell and his family, while the Bears got six points they needed in a 15-6 win that solidified their playoff chances.
As Nagy has dug into his bag of tricks, guided by a mix of panache and bravado, the Bears are realizing a value in them that exceeds points on the scoreboard. Call it team chemistry or morale or excitement that breaks up the grind of a long season.
"This is a little kid's game blown up on a bigger stage, and these plays make it fun," Sowell said. "It actually keeps you in it because you come in here like, 'Oh, boy, I can't wait to see who's about to get the unlikely play this week.' "
Another big man TD for #DaBears!@Mtrubisky10 finds OT Bradley Sowell for SIX.
📺: #LARvsCHI on NBC pic.twitter.com/KNP71AlBbG
— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2018
This, of course, is all by design.
Nagy decided long ago that when he became a head coach, he would try to energize his team with gadget plays, some of which deploy unconventional personnel.
Use a defensive end as a running back. Put two quarterbacks in the backfield for a forward-toss play. Have three players touch the football before throwing it.
Let the players name them, like "Freezer Left," "Willy Wonka" and "Oompa Loompa." Not by chance did all three plays result in touchdowns.
Welcome friends, welcome to our football factory. pic.twitter.com/wAaXFDA33q
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 2, 2018
Success with style — this, we've come to realize during the Bears turnaround, is the essence of Matt Nagy.
"You see the excitement on the players," Nagy said. "I don't know … if they think, 'This coach is crazy,' or if they think that, 'No, this is pretty good.' But … if you have a 'why' behind why you do it, then it makes sense."
By now, this is no fluke. Players, fans and, most important, the opposing defense are left to wonder what's coming next.
Whatever Nagy dials up Sunday against the Packers could help complete the Bears' run to the NFC North title. The coach and several team members hinted that new tricks have been crafted for this potentially historic game.
The Packers should consider themselves warned.
A beautiful, open mind
Come to think of it, though, the Packers already know. They were the first to learn.
Just like Papa Bear drew it up. #Respect pic.twitter.com/xBiV6xT3iD
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 11, 2018
On Sept. 9 at Lambeau Field, Nagy's first play call of the season was "Papa Bear Left." This quarterback-centric coach introduced himself to Chicago and the NFL with a T-formation run that doubled as a tip of the cap to George Halas.
It also gained 7 yards.
That's no footnote. It's a crucial reminder that these plays are much more fun when they work. They're more effective when they're effective.
"You've got to make sure it's something that you feel like can be worthwhile and not foolish," Nagy said. "There's that balance there."
He calls it the "why" behind a play. As Nagy conceives them, they're rooted in a player's skill or trait that gives the Bears an advantage. There's more venom in these plays than simply getting a defense to ask, "What the heck?" when four defensive linemen jog onto the field.
It's the difference between gimmickry and gadgetry. Or, as Nagy explained, it's what differentiates a sound play call and design from one a critic might pan as being too cute.
"That's the key — there's right and wrong times to do it, no doubt about it," he said. "If we feel like it's the right time, we're going to do it."
🔥🔥🔥@TarikCohen to @AnthonyMiller_3 for six! 🔥🔥🔥#CHIvsNYG | #DaBears pic.twitter.com/F7d9f1kuBE
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 2, 2018
Take Sowell's third-and-goal catch, for example. He's one of five brothers in a family that didn't have much money growing up in Hernando, Miss., near Memphis, Tenn. Their daily entertainment consisted of playing some type of ball.
"Every one of my brothers and myself all have this crazy ability to throw and catch," he explained. "I don't even really need it at this point as an O-lineman."
Until he did.
Nagy's mind is perpetually loaded with kindling. All it needs is a match. One ignited when Nagy noticed Sowell's hands during his pregame routine of playing catch with Khalil Mack.
And that's just one instance. Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, whom Nagy hired for his strategic prowess, quickly came to appreciate how Nagy's creative fire burns.
"Once we start talking about one thing, it kind of dovetails or offshoots into a million other possibilities," Helfrich said. "It's usually him going, 'How about this?' And then two hours later it's, 'Wait, how about this?' And it's completely different — and good."
The range of possibilities is wider because of Nagy's background in the Arena Football League, where many players play on both sides of the ball.
As Nagy points out, most NFL players were stars on their high school teams, and many played both ways. So when he had defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris run a drag route as the second read on the pass to Sowell, it's not as though Robertson-Harris was doing something foreign. He was a tight end in high school.
"You tell me to line up on the line and run a route, it's not rocket science," Robertson-Harris said. "It's football."
The simplicity is part of the brilliance. Because now there are at least a dozen legitimate candidates for Nagy to grab out of a defensive meeting room and work into the offense. It's Nagy's version of "The Price Is Right" at Halas Hall.
Eddie Jackson, come on down! You're the next contestant…
"He'll use any guy in this locker room," Sowell said. "He just wants to score the points. You show him you can do something, and he'll have 100 percent confidence in you."
The most fun
Sowell went down to breakfast early Sunday at the team hotel near Soldier Field. One of the first people he saw was Nagy.
"Be ready," Nagy told him. "It's prime time, and the play is up."
Sowell gave the thumbs up. But internally he doubted Nagy would rely on a play-action pass to a backup tackle using three defensive linemen as decoys. Especially not on national TV in a playoff race. Plus — if you can believe it — the Bears had not practiced the play at full speed against a defense.
It was part of the previous Friday's practice script, but Nagy nixed it when the NBC crew arrived to watch practice (a courtesy commonly offered to broadcast crews but no other media). He refused to risk tipping his hand.
Players, however, know the success of a play depends on its details. And the likelihood of error increases with guys in unusual roles. So they stayed after practice and walked through the play several times.
The fake handoff to defensive end Akiem Hicks was critical to allowing Sowell to slip out into a pass route. Given that Hicks scored on a handoff Dec. 2 against the Giants, he was bound to command the defense's attention if he properly sold the run fake.
Bears even used the same formation!pic.twitter.com/xF4V81iqqj
The key? Left arm up in pretending to accept the ball. "I had double-digit reps," Hicks recalled with a smile.
Sowell knew he needed to delay his release a split-second longer than he did on the ill-fated pass attempt to him on Oct. 21. The Patriots covered that one too well.
The disappointment of that play stuck with Sowell enough that he didn't even tell his parents "Santa's Sleigh" was ready for takeoff against the Rams.
No wonder, then, that Sowell's father was almost asleep on his couch in Hernando when the Bears had third-and-goal from the 2 on their opening possession of the second half.
Five of the world's least aerodynamic reindeer trotted onto the field, making a beeline to the referee to declare themselves eligible receivers.
Meanwhile, as fans double-checked their eyes, the buzz in the stadium crescendoed. NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was surprised, too, exclaiming: "They've got all kinds of defensive players in the game right now!"
[Most read] With 100-degree heat headed for Wrigley Field this weekend, here's how the Cubs will keep fans cool »
Seconds later, Sowell was dancing. Wiggling his knees, first with his right arm out in front of him, then with the left, then again with the right. His daughters had wanted him to do The Floss, but he didn't quite get it down enough to unveil it on national TV.
"Oooooowie!" Mack said afterward. "My dawg Bradley got the sweetest hands on the team, man!"
As Sowell's teammates mobbed him, Nagy showed no expression as he held up one finger. The Bears would kick the extra point.
"They're not all going to work," he said. "There's going to be some where I'm going to be standing up here and you (media) are going to be saying, 'You're an idiot.' But that's inevitable. I'll accept that."
Sowell was named one of the players of the game by NBC's "Sunday Night Football" telecast. His on-field postgame interview aired for his deliriously disbelieving dad and the rest of the country to see.
"Whenever you have a special season, there's always special stuff that happens," Sowell said Wednesday after it all sank in. "The whole story of this season is going to be special, and this is just going to be one of those parts of it."
That feeling can't be bought in free agency or drafted in the first round. The new coach has cultivated it.
"He has been the most fun coach I've ever played for," Robertson-Harris said.
And Sowell?
"I would do anything for Nagy," he said.
There are more of the first-place Bears who feel that way.
rcampbell@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @Rich_Campbell
That air-raid siren at Soldier Field? It will be back for Sunday's Bears-Packers game after Matt Nagy calls it 'great' »
Sunday storylines: Bears GM Ryan Pace's finest hour, Kyle Long's recovery and Matt Nagy's audacity »
Brad Biggs: The Bears and Packers have reversed roles. Can the Bears keep the upper hand for years to come? »