Ben Johnson presents quarterback Tyson Bagent with a challenge that could determine if the Bears beat the Packers in Week 5
The Chicago Bears moved the ball efficiently with a lot of success in Week 5 with Tyson Bagent at quarterback, but head coach Ben Johnson is looking to see more.
The Chicago Bears aren’t keeping the quarterback decision behind closed doors this week as the team prepares for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Head coach Ben Johnson made the early announcement on Monday that Tyson Bagent will lead the offense once again in Week 5 following the team’s win over the New York Jets last Sunday. The team remains confident in Bagent and some of the things he showed in that game on Sunday reinforced that belief.
“The guys rallied behind me,” Bagent said. “I felt extreme faith from the coaches towards me, and that’s just a hat’s off to all the hard work that’s been put in. I was really appreciative of that, and I think it allowed me to go spin it at a higher level. So, all hands on deck.”
Ben Johnson is looking to see Tyson Bagent do some things differently in Week 5
Coming out of Sunday’s game, Johnson called Bagent’s performance a “mixed bag” with how he played. Operationally, Bagent did a wonderful job executing the offense and commanding the huddle. And the Bears didn’t have to ask him to do too much, as compared to Case Keenum’s game the week before, thanks to a strong rushing attack.
Even still, when it was time for Bagent to make a play, he was making some pretty good ones out there attacking the middle of the field and progressing through his reads. The reason his game was considered a “mixed bag” is because Bagent also had a few turnover-worthy plays that ended up working out for Chicago.
Bagent technically threw four interceptions in that game. Only one remained on the stat sheet after the rest were called back due to penalties. The Bears were luckily that those were called back. And moving forward, Bagent needs to learn from those kind of plays.
NFL Analyst Tim Jenkins believed some of Bagent’s mistakes “weren’t full conviction throws” and I agree. Bagent has the talent to make some really good plays and the Bears just need him to be playing with more internal confidence going into his second start.
“He understands how important ball security is to team success, but we don’t want him to lose his aggressiveness level either,” Johnson explained. “We had opportunities for big plays downfield that he didn’t pull the trigger on, so there’s a balancing act there.”
The Bears might not be able to rely on 50 carries and over 230+ yards on the ground this time around in Green Bay. And the Packers now have a full game of recent tape on Bagent what to expect from him at quarterback.
He’s got to come out on Sunday with full confidence in his reads and his ability to be able to rip some of these throws. That’s the challenge the Bears are putting in front of him and we’ll see if he can rise to the occasion and hit those big plays down the field.
