If It Was Tyson Bagent's Finale at Least It Was Mistake-Free

It wasn't as much cause for celebration as it was a sigh of relief.

The Bears had survived the woeful Carolina Panthers 16-13, a team very similar in many ways to the way they themselves looked last year. The narrow margin of victory possibly indicating how little progress the Bears have made in a full season.

The other reason for the relief was the final game for Tyson Bagent. The Bears aren't saying this was his final start, but if starter Justin Fields can't play in another 10 days then perhaps there is something more serious about his injury than they originally thought—or at least he isn't the fast healer everyone at Halas Hall suggested.

"We'll see where it is this week," coach Matt Eberflus said. "We'll see where it is. It's a big week to make that evaluation, so When Justin is healthy, he'll be our starter, and we'll see where it goes."

Bagent seemed to think there was a chance it would be the last time they need him to start.

"Going out with a win is obviously fantastic for the team," he said. "Yeah, I don't know if this is it.

"You know, nothing really changes for me with the preparation and how I'm going to attack every week, but I learned that it's really hard to win in the NFL. I appreciate all the wins."

Bagent went 20 of 33 for 162 and that's a robust 4.9 yards per attempt. No NFL team should win a game averaging so little per attempt but the Panthers were in no position to do anything about it.

None of this is to suggest Bagent struggled badly. To the contrary, he looked just like he did against the Las Vegas Raiders in his other win. He did what he could.

"He's 2-2," receiver DJ Moore said. "I mean, that's pretty good for a rookie and I hope he builds on that and keeps growing."

In the future, maybe. 

For now, the Bears need to see Justin Fields to evaluate him.

The Bagent fans out there won't like this but the simple truth is you aren't going to beat many teams in the NFL with no passing gains over 16 yards like the Bears had Thursday night. That's Craig Krenzel stuff.

"What was really good today was that he's always done a really good job of avoiding sacks throughout the course of the four games that he has played, but what he did well today is he didn't put the ball in harm's way, and he gave us a chance to win," Eberflus said.

They don't give out MVP or or Pro Bowls to quarterbacks whose claim to fame is avoiding harm's way. They also have to have the arm to challenge a defense downfield.

Bagent had one real opportunity to show the cannon he once said he had, and that was when Tyler Scott got wide open downfield, possibly because of a blown coverage.

Bagent looked at him and threw elsewhere. Bagent said he didn't see Scott as being open when he looked there during his progression.

"So I just worked in my progression and got it down to Roschon (Johnson) for the checkdown," he said.

Bagent did show an arm when needed, just not downfield. He rifled in the throw for 7 yards to Darnell Mooney for the clinching first down and saved his coach the embarrassment of trying to explain why they didn't keep the clock running with an incompletion, giving the Panthers one more shot.

Mooney made the play despite being slammed hard.

"I think Mooney is a stud," Bagent said. "There's nobody that deserves to catch the ball more than Mooney.

"I resemble a lot of his work ethic and respect a lot of what he does, just as a worker. So any time he makes plays, obviously I understand why he's making plays. It's because he works so hard day-in and day-out."

It was the same pay they ran earlier to receiver Trent Tucker except they had an offensive pass interference against DJ Moore on that one.

Bagent stood in and drilled one critical third-down pass to Scott on a play reminiscent one last week when he threw an interception against New Orleans. He also rifled in the throw on third-and-7 to Mooney to clinch the game, a real gamble of a call considering there was 1:26 to go and the Panthers lacked any timeouts. The Bears could have run and then punted and it's possible Carolina would have been starting inside its 10 with under a minute left.

Ultimately, Bagent had what was required to ice away the win.

"Like, I don't think I'm at the peak of anything," Bagent said. "I'm just looking forward to continuing to get better and then let the ball fall where it may."

When it fell in the hands of his receivers Thursday, it wasn't too far downfield, but at least it was in the hands of his receivers and not defensive backs like against the Saints.