Rick Morrissey is a Getsy Stooge!
https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2023/11/5/23947836/story-of-bears-loss-to-saints-they-still-dont-have-quarterback-tyson-bagent-justin-fields-cj-stroudWhat did Tyson Bagent’s three interceptions and one fumble mean Sunday?
That the Bears still don’t have a quarterback.
The hope — the fantasy? — was that Bagent would play well enough that the Justin Fields experience would mercifully end for everyone involved. But all the good that the fairy tale QB did in the first half was wiped out by a very bad second half in a 24-17 loss to the Saints.
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And that’s too bad. At halftime, he was 10 of 13 for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He threw a bad interception in the first quarter, but he more than made up for it with 60 rushing yards on six carries. He was everything that Fields hasn’t been in 2½ years — accurate with his throws, poised in the pocket and willing to go through his reads to find an open receiver.
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If Fields’ dislocated right thumb is better, he’ll start Thursday against the Panthers. In the grand scheme of things, it won’t matter. If he plays well, the Fields skeptics will say it’s because he was playing against lowly Carolina. If he doesn’t play well, the Fields cheering section will say it’s because his thumb wasn’t completely healed. It might seem like the guy can’t win, but that’s really not the story. The story is that we already know what he is midway through his third season.
The story is that he isn’t it. He isn’t the answer.
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The strangest part of the Bagent Era, short as it was, was how some Bears fans continued to have a death grip on the idea of Fields’ being good, even though nothing in his passing statistics deserved that level of ardor. And because they prayed that Fields be the quarterback they wanted him to be, it was as if they prayed for Bagent to fail. Possibly because they’d spent $100 each on a Fields’ jersey.
[Sure seems like Rick Morrissey knows Tempo...]