After Browns sack Justin Fields 9 times, Dan Orlovsky calls for Matt Nagy to be fired for the worst gameplan ‘I’ve ever seen in my life’

CLEVELAND, Ohio — After the Browns sacked Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields nine times in their 26-6 victory on Sunday — including 4 1/2 by Myles Garrett — ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky called for Bears coach Matt Nagy’s head to roll immediately.

“The Chicago Bears should fire Matt Nagy today,’’ Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up. “Because yesterday’s gameplan — which was the worst one I’ve ever seen in my life — was either negligence or intentional. It’s been 149 days since the Bears drafted Justin Fields. You had 149 days to start to build a gameplan around the skillset of this young man, and it was an embarrassment.

“Justin Fields threw the ball 20 times yesterday. Thirteen times they went with five-man protection with no help for their offensive line. Thirteen out of 20! Yesterday you showed us that you are either incapable of designing the proper gameplan, around a dynamic quarterback, or you showed us that it was intentional that you wanted him to fail, and you set him up to be a disaster.’’

Indeed, Fields was sacked on almost 50% of his 20 attempts, and completed only six for 68 yards. The Bears finished with an astonishing 1 net yard passing, and 47 net yards overall. The mobile Fields rushed only three times for 12 yards, with a long gain of 7. According to ESPN Stats and Info, in 30 dropbabacks, the Bears used pre-snap motion four times, max protection twice, designed rollouts twice, and designed QB runs twice.

“You moved the pocket once in the first half?’’ Orlovsky said. “One time (in the middle of the second quarter). One time. You don’t design routes…you ran the same third-down situation, third and 5, third and 6, third and 8 and third and 7. You ran the same play twice. The same play twice. You’re getting paid for that? That’s what you build with the gameplan that you have 149 days?….From the moment you drafted Justin Fields, you should’ve been designing all of these gameplans, so when he gets on the field, you unleash him.

“And it’s a Colin Kaepernick-type situation. ….But you’re dropping back and you’re going ‘we can block this defense with five-man protection?’ Don’t tell me he’s not ready. It’s your freaking job to get him ready to play and figure out the things he can do.’’

Garrett, coming off constant chipping by the Texans and a smart gameplan that left him sackless in last week’s 31-21 victory, was almost never chipped or doubled by the Bears, and he teed off to set the Browns single-game sack record and take over the NFL lead with 5.5.

Not only did they not put extra bodies on him, their 39-year-old left tackle Jason Peters — although a nine-time Pro Bowler from his glory days — was no match for Garrett whatsoever. Heading into the season, the Bears’ offensive line was ranked 28th by Pro Football Focus, and it lived up the ranking. It was a recipe for disaster for Fields in his first NFL start, and a formula for wild success for the hungry Browns, who had only three sacks coming in and were taking heat for it.

In fact, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski believes it might be the most dominant defensive performance he’s been a part of.

“Without checking, I’d say yes,’’ he said. “You guys saw it. They were dominant from the jump. They gave up some points on the first drive, but they kept us in the ballgame. It was a tight ballgame into the fourth quarter and our defense kept us in it and they did a great job. In terms of their performance, can you repeat that every single week? I hope so. But the big takeaway for me is that they practice like that last week and you can take the practice field to the game field is really my reflection on it.’’

Of course, if smart offenses go back to chipping and doubling Garrett, he might not get home more than four times every game, but it was certainly the breakout performance the Browns needed from him.

“Myles was outstanding,’’ said Stefanski said. “Really, the entire defense was outstanding, but if you point at an individual, it would certainly be Myles in that effort yesterday. He’s our best player. He knows that. We know that. And the other teams know that, so he’s going to get a lot of attention, we’re going to move him around, we’re going to do different things with him and we need him to play great, and again it’s no secret to anybody.’’

Garrett’s teammates also responded to his challenge to make plays, with Jadeveon Clowney notching his first two sacks since the 2019 season, safety Ronnie Harrison getting one, and Takk McKinley, Malik Jackson and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah each getting a half.

“JD was great yesterday,’’ Stefanski said of Clowney. “He was locked in at practice last week. He works really hard. He fits what we want to do. He’a great teammates. He’s affecting the game, and he has the ability to affect the game in the run and the pass.’’

Overall, it was the type of performance expected from this formidable defensive front, with its two No. 1 overall picks on the edges. The Browns’ nine sacks tied for their most since a game against the 49ers on Dec. 13, 2015, and fell two short of the club record.

“Anytime you can have that type of production from your defensive line from a sack standpoint, it’s pretty rare,’’ Stefanski said. “The pressure has been there as we’ve talked about. Those sacks seem to come in bunches, but those are three explosive, long athletes (Garrett, Clowney and McKinley) that we need to continue to better. That really has to be our mentality as a defense, as an attacking defense whether we’re bringing four, five six, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to attack and I thought the guys did a nice job yesterday.’’

It was so gratifying from field level that cornerback Troy Hill has an idea for Garrett.

“Man, pay the man again,’’ Hill said. “Give him some more money. That’s dominance at its finest.’’

And arguably Bears gameplanning at its worst.

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