There was little difference Thursday night between the Bears’ undrafted rookie and the quarterback the Panthers drafted first overall in April.
Whether that’s high praise for Tyson Bagent or damning of Bryce Young won’t be known for another year or two. The Bears’ first look at what might have been, though, probably produced little envy at Halas Hall. For the Bears, the real FOMO — fear of missing out — resides in Houston, where C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick, has produced one of the best starts to a rookie quarterback career in league history.
Young, though, appears to still be finding his way. Although that doesn’t preclude him from turning into a star, it’s — at least for now — not what the Panthers paid for.
The two battled in an ugly live stream Thursday night, with Bagent and the Bears prevailing, 16-13, after Panthers kicker Eddy Pineiro missed a prayer of a field goal with 1:40 to play. The former Bears kicker left the 59-yard field goal short and to the left.
The Bears iced the game when Bagent completed an 8-yard pass to Darnell Mooney with about a minute left. Bagent went 20-for-33 for 162 yards and a 73 passer rating. Young was no better, going 21-for-38 for 185 yards and a 68.4 rating.
Bagent is the Bears’ free roll. They signed him shortly after the draft and have developed him into someone capable of winning games. Whether the Bears can with win with him or because of him is another question. Either way, he figures to be, at worst, a solid backup. For an undrafted free agent, that’s a wild success.
The Panthers have the same problem the Bears did in recent years with Justin Fields — it’s hard to tell where his struggles begin and his supporting cast ends. That was the deal the Panthers made when they agreed to trade for the Bears’ first overall pick: to land Young, they had to take away receiver DJ Moore, who would have been his top target, and two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
The Bears need Fields back. They need to continue their evaluation of him before this offseason, when the Bears figure to have two high draft picks — and at least one high enough to select either USC quarterback Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
It’s hard to shake the feeling that Fields’ time in Chicago could bearing an end, though. At least he’ll go down swinging — with 10 days between Thursday’s game and the contest in Detroit, Fields’ next start could very well be the Bears’ next game. In what limited time he has left this season, Fields needs to turn in the same star performance he posted against the Commanders and Broncos — and do it against defenses that are much better than the two, while recovering from a dislocated right thumb.
The Bears think they’ve found an offensive identity the last month — one built around a physical run game. Incorporating Fields back into it will be a test for a coaching staff whose future is as much in question as that of their quarterback.
Until then, the Bears seem destined to play the same kind of ugly football that was streamed to the nation Thursday night.
The biggest thrill for either side came on a punt return. About 10 minutes into the game, former Bears receiver Smith-Marsette fielded a punt at the Panthers’ 24, slipped a diving tackle by Josh Blackwell to his left, and cut back through a sea of Bears and toward the right sideline. He had one player to beat — punter Trenton Gill — and did just that at the Bears’ 30 before running up the right sideline and into the end zone. The punt return touchdown was only the 10th since the start of the 2021 season.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos made a 49-yard field goal to cap the Bears’ next drive, but Cody Whitehair was called for a false start. The Bears were moved back five yards and tried again; Santos made the 54-yarder. Eddy Pineiro, another ex-Bears, parried with his own field goal. Santos booted a 36-yarder to go down four with about three minutes left in the half.
The Bears bullied their way into the lead in the third quarter, turning a short field into a touchdown. It took them nine plays to go 38 yards. The Bears faced first down only once — and used tight end Cole Kmet on a direct snap to gain the one yard they needed. Running back D’Onta Foreman’s four-yard run gave the Bears their first lead of the night with 6:33 to play in the third quarter.
Pineiro added another field midway through the fourth quarter. Just getting to that point was an accomplishment for the Panthers: a series of penalties forced them into first-and-30 — and then, after a run, second-and-27. A 10-yard pass and an offside penalty on DeMarcus Walker produced a manageable third-and-12. The Panthers went for it on fourth-and-6 from the Bears’ 36 — and Young completed a pass for a first down.
Trailing by three, Young needed to convert two different fourth downs to keep the drive alive. The first, from his own 18 with 5:20 to play, was a two-yard quarterback scramble on fourth-and-1. The second was fourth-and-2 from their own 46 with two minutes to play, yielded a 13-yard completion to running back Miles Sanders.