Matt Nagy played scared and lost. Frank Reich played it safe and his kicker made him look smart.
The Chicago Bears lost 17-16 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday because Eddy Pineiro missed a 41-yard field goal after Nagy had quarterback Mitchell Trubisky take a knee on first-and-10 from the 21 with 43 seconds remaining.
The Indianapolis Colts beat the Denver Broncos 15-13 on Adam Vinatieri's 51-yard field goal after Reich called two runs to set up a long field goal.
Both coaching philosophies were conservative, but the results were different because of execution.
Trubisky had just scrambled 11 yards and the Bears had one timeout left.