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On Wednesday, the Washington Nationals changed the MLB landscape by beating the juggernaut Houston Astros. The Nats, a team that qualified for the playoffs via wildcard birth and sat at 19-31 after 50 games, won their first World Series. Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who is witnessing his team endure a slump, takes inspiration from that.
To Nagy, the Nationals show what perseverance and overcoming adversity, critics and doubt is all about. He hopes that can rub off on his 3-4 Bears, who are coming off of back-to-back losses.
Article Continues Below“How amazing is that; that people that stick together, people that get tighter through adversity, people that never quit, people that say, ‘so what, now what,’ but then they do it,” Nagy said on Thursday, via the team's official website. “How do you not show that to your guys and let them pull from that? That’s a really cool moment for them. That should be something that all of us can learn from in the sports world.”
The Nationals went 5-0 in elimination games throughout the playoffs. On Wednesday night, they overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Astros in Houston. Nagy wants his team to see that, as it embodies the notion that winning isn't a sprint, rather, it's a marathon.
“Sometimes, it’s just a big game or a tough loss. That’s the one we were spinning off of. After [Wednesday night], you see that this thing is a marathon and you need to really be coming into your own by the end of the year. That’s what’s most important, is how are you playing?
“The other part of this, too, within that whole part of the deal with the record was [the Nationals] broke, like, world records with how many times they were down. I think last night was the fifth time they were down to come back and win. They did it five times. We showed the guys, ‘Hey, they were losing 2-0. But when did they finish?’ They finished in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. That’s when they did their damage and they won it because of that. It’s always about how you finish.”
