on December 16 to improve to 10–4, he became the second Bears rookie head coach in team history to win ten games, joining George Halas in 1920. He ended the regular season with two more wins, finishing his first year as a head coach with a 12–4 record; he and Paddy Driscoll (1956) are the only coaches in Bears history to have a winning record and qualify for the playoffs in their debut seasons. However, the Bears were defeated by Pederson and the Eagles in the Wild Card Round 16–15 after the game-winning field goal was blocked and hit the crossbar twice. In January 2019, Nagy received Coach of the Year honors from the Pro Football Writers Association and Associated Press. He was the first Bears coach to be given the AP award since Lovie Smith in 2005 and the fifth in team history. He is also the fifth coach in team history to record at least 12 wins in a season, joining George Halas, Mike Ditka, Dick Jauron, and Lovie Smith. After the 2018 season, Fangio departed the Bears to become the Denver Broncos head coach; to replace him, Nagy hired Pagano as defensive coordinator. Nagy also reunited with Childress, who rejoined the Bears as a senior offensive assistant, and Mark DeLeone, who was the Chiefs' inside linebackers coach during Nagy's tenure and would serve the same position in Chicago. Despite a 3–1 start to the 2019 season, offensive struggles and a four-game losing streak sank them to 4–6. Although the team won three straight games to remain in playoff contention, a Week 15 loss to the Packers dropped them to 7–7 and ended their postseason hopes. The Bears finished the season 8–8, while Nagy's combined 20 wins in 2018 and 2019 were the most by a Bears head coach in his first two seasons. Chicago continued to experience difficulties through the season, leading to an offense ranked 29th in the league for the 2019 season. Season's end inspired offensive staff changes such as firing offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. Among Nagy's new hirings for the 2020 season were offensive line coach Juan Castillo, who worked with him in Philadelphia, and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, also a former Eagles coach. The team also traded for quarterback Nick Foles, who worked with Nagy in Philadelphia and Kansas City, to compete with starter Mitchell Trubisky. The Bears started the season 5–1 but