Bears won more than just the Raiders game with QB Tyson Bagent

Buckle up, Chicago Bears fans. It’s going to be one of those weeks in Chicago.

It’ll kick off with a Victory Monday, which Bears fans haven’t had after a game at Soldier Field in over a year. There are plenty of reasons to celebrate this win, too. The Bears looked like a competent football team, one that could actually compete in an NFC North dominated by a Detroit Lions club that was just dominated by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Now 2-5, the Bears’ 2023 season has an ever-so-slight pulse again. A Sunday night date with the Los Angeles Chargers is on deck, and it could feature the eye of the Chicago football hurricane, undrafted rookie phenom quarterback Tyson Bagent.

Bagent was sharp in his first NFL start. He completed 21-of-29 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 24 yards and ended the game with a 97.2 rating. He was, in a word, effective. He manufactured completions, made good reads, and took the yards the defense gave him. You know, everything the Chicago Bears haven’t been able to do (for the most part) this season.

Bagent’s success wasn’t just an individual effort, however. The running game was as effective as it’s been all season. Veteran D’Onta Foreman took advantage of his most extensive action of the year, running for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He caught three passes and hit the paint as a receiver, too.

Darrynton Evans added 48 rushing yards, and eight different receivers caught a pass (that, though, is a Bagent stat).

Regardless, Tyson Bagent proved he belongs. The underdog story about his journey from Division II’s Shepherd University to going undrafted to winning his first NFL start has been fun, but it’s time to shift the narrative. Bagent is an NFL quarterback. And there’s a chance he can be a very good one.

It’s that last part — Bagent potentially being a very good NFL quarterback — that will dominate the watercooler conversation this week. Bears fans hope they already have a very good NFL quarterback in 2021 first-round pick Justin Fields. He’s flashed elite upside during his first three seasons in the NFL, but he’s been equal parts mesmerizing and frustrating over the last two years. Aside from his downright dominant performances against the Broncos and Commanders this year, he’s created more questions than answers about his future in Chicago.

Naturally, when a player like Bagent, who has a great backstory and plays a winning brand of football, makes the kind of headline-grabbing splash in his first start as he did in Week 7, the ugly “C” word is born: controversy (as in, quarterback controversy).

We aren’t there yet, Bears fans. We’re a long way from a full-blown quarterback controversy inside Halas Hall. But that doesn’t mean it won’t start this week outside the building.

I’m still in the pro-Fields camp … for now. I’ll admit, part of my allegiance to Fields is the desire for the Bears to get it right — that their first-round pick, a blue-chip prospect, a player who can keep defensive coordinators up at night actually pans out. My hope for Fields involves more than just Fields, it’s about the franchise in general. If Fields hits, if he’s “the guy,” the jokes about the organization stop. The curse is over. They … got it right.

But does that even matter? Maybe the Chicago Bears need a lucky break at quarterback. Maybe that’s how they’re destined to end the curse. A player like Tyson Bagent, who no one thought highly enough of to draft, maybe he’s the guy who will be the guy. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it would be remarkable.

In many ways, the Bears can’t lose if Bagent is successful. At worst, he’ll be a fantastic backup quarterback for the next several seasons who will drum up trade value with every passing preseason. If Justin Fields pans out and is the long-term answer, Bagent will be an awesome insurance policy that the Bears can flip into draft assets when the time comes. Not bad.

At best, Tyson Bagent will be Chicago’s Tony Romo, another undrafted quarterback who unseated Drew Bledsoe and developed into a very good starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. That’d be amazing.

There will be a lot of discourse on social media about the Chicago Bears’ quarterback situation this week. The Bears can shield most of it by hiding behind Fields’ thumb injury. They can give Bagent another start because, well, Fields just isn’t ready, not because they’re intrigued by the rookie.

I think that’s what they should do, too. Give Bagent another start on an even bigger stage. See how he performs in front of a national audience. See if the setting is suddenly too big for him. If so, the debate is over. Fields returns to the starting lineup, Bagent returns to QB2, and the 2023 season marches on.

But if the Bears win another game with Bagent under center, and the rook is a big reason why they win, then a tough decision has to be made for Week 9. Fields should be ready to return by then (barring a setback). But a two-game winning streak for a coaching staff on the hottest of hot seats will be hard to disrupt.

For now, enjoy the victory. They’ve been hard to come by for the Chicago Bears. And enjoy good quarterback play, no matter who the guy is that delivered it.