The Chicago Bears got the job done on Thursday night. It wasn’t pretty. They faced the worst team in football and barely won 16-13. It was another sign that this team was far from true contention. GM Ryan Poles has lots of work to do. Part of it is figuring out what to do at the quarterback position. Justin Fields is still the starter and will play when healthy, according to head coach Matt Eberflus. Others who have covered the team for the past month believe rookie Tyson Bagent shouldn’t be cast aside so easily. Lost in all of this is where Luke Getsy stands.
He is the Bears’ offensive coordinator. He calls the plays. One can imagine he has an opinion on the subject. Obviously, he won’t share it in public. That would create a massive firestorm in the media. Behind the scenes, there is no doubt he has a preference. Former quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to sense who that might be. After the Bears’ closed the game out, he had some comments in the Amazon post-game show about one play that signaled how Getsy really felt about Bagent.
At least according to the eye of somebody who has played the position.
Fitzpatrick’s favorite throw from Bagent was the rookie’s final one of the game. Bagent hit receiver Darnell Mooney for an 8-yard gain between two defenders on third-and-7 from Carolina’s 38 in the final 90 seconds.
“Luke Getsy, that last third-and-7 of the game, he trusted Bagent with the ball in his hands,” Fitzpatrick said. “It wasn’t just a handoff and let’s punt this thing away. He allowed him to drop back. It wasn’t a rollout. It wasn’t a, ‘Let’s give him an option to run, let’s give him an option to throw.’ He dropped back, found Mooney, got the first down and iced the game. That tells you a lot about Luke Getsy and what he thinks about this kid.”
Luke Getsy may not be anxious to go back to Fields.
People will argue that the offensive coordinator also asked him to throw in similar situations. It’s not different. One thing is—the results. Fields has been brutal in most of the got-to-have-it drives in the 4th quarter this season. Against Tampa Bay, trailing 20-17, he threw a backbreaking pick-six with two minutes left. A week later, against Denver, with seven minutes left, the Bears led 28-21. Another first down would’ve put them in field goal range. Fields took a sack, fumbled the ball, and it was returned for the game-tying touchdown.
Bagent is hardly perfect. He’s made his share of mistakes. However, most of them have come when the Bears are trailing and he is trying to get them back in the game. Whenever he’s had the lead and been asked to throw in critical situations, he has delivered. He converted two big 3rd downs against Las Vegas to maintain eventual scoring drives in the second half. Thursday night against Carolina, Luke Getsy asked him to go win the game on 3rd and 7. Bagent again delivered. The final decision might not be his call, but the offensive coordinator may not be as anxious to bring back Fields as some would think.
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