Suddenly the Chicago Bears are going to the Superbowl as they found their solution finally behind center. Probably not, but they are excited. The fans at Soldier Field have not seen a win at home in over a year and the Bears finally got one versus the Las Vegas Raiders. The struggling QB 1 for the Bears, Justin Fields, was out with an injury as rookie Tyson Bagent made his first start of his career and he was pretty impressive. Bagent was not drafted as the Bears signed him as a free agent and he thrived in the pre-season, making the roster as the team cut veteran PJ Walker. Yes, the same guy who has helped Cleveland win two games in back to back weeks subbing in for the masseuse rapist Deshaun Watson. Bagent’s debut versus Minnesota the week prior had him coming in for the injured Fields and picked up his first ever rushing touchdown on a nicely executed drive. Bagent also threw a duck that was intercepted and seal the game for the Vikings. Bagent looked like he was a veteran running the Bears offense versus the Raiders defense. Are The Raiders that bad? Does Bagent have a chance to take over the starring job for the Bears on a permanent basis?

The first question you are going to ask is who the hell is Tyson Bagent and the second… Where did he come from? Valid questions. Bagent is 23 years old and is out of the state of West Virginia. Bagent went locally to school and stayed in West Virginia. He played his College football with Shepard University, a division II school. Bagent played all 4 years at Shepherd, home of the Rams. Bagent was Division II offensive player of the year in 2021. Bagent certainly deserved it, completing 391 passes out of 579 attempts for 5,000 yards with 53 touchdown passes. Where’s the defense in that league? Only three others in Division II has thrown those video game numbers before Bagent. Bagent has won some awards with his play as he collected the Harlon Hill trophy and received the Hardman award which probably does not have anything to do with the movie Deliverance, although you think it would be from some backwoods state, probably West Virginia. In 2018, he was first team All MEC Mountain East Conference. In high school, Bagent lit up the skies on Friday night lights throughout West Virginia as he had over 7,000 passing yards with 112 touchdown passes. You can say all his numbers have been small potatoes doing everything in small town surroundings, both high school and collegiate. Every quarterback has a different journey to the NFL, even if it’s stocking groceries while playing Arena Football like Kurt Warner. Most greats come from the bigger universities. Walter Payton, who I still think is the best running back of all-time, came from Jackson State. Shepard or Cow U whatever… this kid is an under dog & has that Rudy or Rocky story going.

This year in Chicago was all about the development of Justin Fields. The front office built around Fields and expected good things to happen as he was supposed to take that leap to be the pillar at quarterback for the next decade. The Bears have not had a great quarterback behind center since Sid Luckman of the 1940’s. Fields is a turn over machine, especially in the second half. We have seen a few games where Fields looks amazing. Fields still has those clunkers. Last year, Fields showed flashes with amazing 50, 60, and 70 yard runs. Then he still had bad moments. With more play makers and additions to the offensive line, Fields was going to light up the skies. He has moments like that. In crunch time when a game is on the line, Fields is a cup cake. I bet many fans want to see Fields stay away from the field for a few weeks just to see if Tyson Bagent is the answer for that decades and decades search for a quarterback. Which some have never seen one a decent one in their lifetime.

The Bears offense was running like a well-oiled machine last Sunday versus the Raiders. This is the same Raiders team that had won a few games in a row heading to Chicago as their defense was the key in those wins. Tyson Bagent completed 72.4% of his passes going 21-29 for 162 yards with one touchdown pass. Those are not off-the-wall numbers but there are no turnovers. The Bears had a solid running game as veteran D’Onta Foreman had a pair of touchdowns and caught Bagent’s first NFL touchdown pass. It was the way Bagent scrambled in the pocket throwing on the run. Bagent used his legs for yards as well. He handled check downs as the play would change and the Bears would make a big play. It was the way Bagent placed the ball in his wide receivers’ hands as they came out of their breaks hitting them in stride. The Bears won big 30-6 as you can’t even remember a lopsided win like that and when it took place. Bagent handled everything being a starter in the NFL in his debut. The defense played solid and it helped the team get the offense back on the field to build a bigger lead for the rookie who looked comfortable the entire game. It reminded me of the Kyle Orton days. Orton did not make mistakes as he played his game. Some called Orton a game manager. I thought if Orton would have been the starter instead of Rex Grossman back in the 2006 Superbowl, it would have been a game with Peyton Manning and the Colts. Perhaps a victory instead of all those slippery slope turnovers by sexy Rexy. The Bears have draft capital next season and could easily pick another top QB out of the draft. You know Fields will get more chances when he comes back from injury. I just don’t think the Bears are lucky to get a quality QB like the 49ers with Brock Purdy, a 7th round pick. Tom Brady was a late pick for the Patriots. I just don’t see the Bears getting that lucky with Bagent. This has that Jim Miller sort of feeling for the Bears. A guy like Miller and Bagent are guys anybody could get behind and root for because they give you it all on the field and you respect that. Maybe Bagent is that solid number two of the future, but right now he looked like a number 1 and played better than what Fields has done most of the year.