Bears Rookie Quarterback Tyson Bagent Appears to Take Step Back in 16-13 Win Against Carolina Panthers
In a Week 10 meeting against the Carolina Panthers, the Chicago Bears came out on top with a 16-13 home win against their conference opponent. While the Bears were able to snap a two game skid prior to it turning into more, rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent appeared to have taken a step back in his style of play compared to his first three starts in the NFL.
While Tyson Bagent was able to clean up his turnovers from the week 9 loss against the Saints, multiple aspects of the rookie quarterbacks game appeared to be off against the Panthers. Bagent finished the game going 20/33 for 162 yards with no touchdowns and no turnovers along with six rushes for 12 yards. While he played a clean game according to the stat sheet, it was clear that his game was a bit different than what Bears fans have seen in his young career.
Through the first three starts for Bagent, it was clear that he was dropping back in the pocket quicker than Justin Fields, along with progressing through reads at a faster rate as well. It appeared against Carolina that something had changed, with Tysons dropbacks looking quite sluggish. Not only was Bagent taking longer to complete his drop than previous weeks, but it seemed that he was holding onto the ball longer and it almost cost him late in the second quarter where he narrowly avoided a strip sack. It looked like the young quarterback was potentially rattled after the New Orleans game, despite the offensive line offering quite solid protection throughout the majority of the game against Carolina.
Robert Schmitz of DaBearsBlog stated his thoughts of how Tyson Bagent looked:
You’d Swear that Tyson Bagents starts should have played out in reverse-tonight he looks like an Undrafted Free Agent making his first NFL Start while last week looked like him taking the next step…”
While Bagent was able to make some clutch plays, such as the late third down throw to Darnell Mooney to lead the Bears to a victory, it is evident that as he is now spending time with the first team and more time directly with the coaching staff, that his game is changing, and not necessarily in the best way. Is it coaching? Is it that NFL teams now have tape on the young quarterback? Is it Luke Getsys Playcalling? Only time will tell, but it seems as if his style of play is now beginning to merge with how Justin Fields has looked when struggling this year.
At the end of the day, with Justin Fields’ return looking imminent, Bagent has lead the Bears to a 2-2 record in his first four starts in the NFL, something all Bears fans can be happy of.
One passing stat may be damning enough to justify keeping Justin Fields on the bench for the rest of 2023
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