Bears will have to eat their words when it comes to QB Tyson Bagent because they’re not fooling anyone after his Week 5 showing
Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent had every opportunity to prove he’s a starting caliber quarterback over the last two weeks, and it’s going to be even harder to convince other teams that’s the case.
The Chicago Bears have expressed the upmost confidence in backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, who had looked sharp in his last two years of preseason action. Bagent looked a lot more polished in those preseason games compared to the quarterback we saw back in 2023 in preseason action.
Head coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles fueled that internal confidence earlier this year at the NFL Combine when they basically said Bagent was off limits in trade discussions with other teams, even if Bagent wanted to test himself as a starting quarterback elsewhere.
I get it. Having a backup you believe in is a luxury. But when it comes time for that player to actually see the field, you better hope he’s able to perform. Frankly, I don’t think Bagent was able to do that over these last two games.
Tyson Bagent might have squandered his chances of being a starting quarterback in Week 5
Bagent’s first regular season action in over 1,000 days came last week when Johnson made the controversial decision to roll with him over veteran Case Keenum, who had a strong game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Keenum wasn’t perfect by any means, but he took what the defense gave him and put the ball in his receivers hands. That’s all the Bears needed from a backup quarterback in that game.
With Bagent at quarterback in Week 4, it was a mixed bag according to his head coach. He operated the offense at a solid level when it comes to getting out of the huddle and had the benefit of playing with a dominating rushing attack in that game. When he was asked to throw the ball, however, Bagent was hesitant to pull the trigger on multiple occasions and threw some inaccurate balls that made it hard on his pass catchers. Not to mention the turnover-worthy plays (but we can overlook those after they were called back).
Going into his second start, Johnson wanted to see Bagent be more aggressive and more confident with the football. They knew they would potentially need him to win this game without the support of a strong run game and gave him the green light.
Bagent played like a deer in the headlights on Sunday from the every first drive. On his second dropback, nothing was there and Bagent was forced to scramble. Looking back on it, he had a chance to rip a deep ball to Kalif Raymond, but he slipped before he could even think about throwing the ball and went down for an 11-yard sack setting the offense up with a third-and-20.
The next drive, Bagent tried to force a pass to Luther Burden III, who had two Packers defenders on him. I get what Bagent was thinking, but the play just simply wasn’t there. He forced it anyways, and it led to a tipped interception.
The next drive, the Bears were already in a 14-0 hole and needed to get something going. After back-to-back runs, Bagent faced a third-and-six and needed to covert to get some rhythm going. The read was a one-on-one route to Rome Odunze, who created just enough separation needed to covert.
The ball was too far outside Odunze’s reach and that’s simply the kind of pass you need to be able to complete as a starting quarterback.
Chicago’s defense managed to get a stop, and Bagent managed to get some rhythm going on the next drive that ended with a rushing touchdown from the goal line to make it 7-14. The Bears defense then got the ball back to for the offense with 1:22 before the half to potentially make it a 10-14, or even 14-14, game.
Instead, two plays into the drive, Bagent took another bad sack (on a play where he had Burden running clear across the field right in front of him).
The next play, Bagent ripped a deep crosser to Odunze. Odunze had to go up and extend for the ball (you can’t put your receivers in that kind of situation over the middle) and wasn’t able to come down with it. It’s a play you’d ideally like to see Odunze make, but it’s a tough ask for him to extend for it while having Brandon Cisse wrapped over him. Good time to be aggressive, Bagent just put Odunze in a tough position.
A lot more bad decisions and bad reads continued into the second-half. Could the play-calls have been better? I’m sure, and Ben Johnson was quick to shoulder that blame after the game. But, some of these plays were there and Bagent either didn’t see it, forced the ball to another target, or simply missed.
The Bears also warned everyone about these safeties, and Bagent’s second interception to Xavier McKinney sealed his fate and forced Johnson to bench him.
What I saw on tape wasn’t starting-level play at quarterback in a game where the conditions weren’t perfect like they were last week. On the road, without a run game or defense to support you, that’s where you prove you can be a starting quarterback in this league or prove you belong on the bench.
Bagent showed the latter on Sunday and teams in need of a quarterback will watch this game. Those teams won’t come away impressed and will see a quarterback who is now 0-3 on the road with triple the amount of interceptions as touchdowns in his career.
That’s good news for Johnson and Poles. You wanted this guy on your team and were very confident about it. Now, I’m not sure you can pay a team to take him off your hands after this kind of performance. And if the Bears end up not having Caleb Williams available in Week 6, it’s clear they need to turn back to a veteran who takes what the defense gives him and throws a catchable ball.
