The Chicago Bears are now 1-0 with Tyson Bagent this season and 1-5 with Justin Fields. The opponent has to do with it, but there are notable differences between the two and their playing styles. What stood out the most through one start?
3. The Chicago Bears called short passes for Tyson Bagent
The Chicago Bears kept things simple and near the line of scrimmage for Tyson Bagent. So far this season, 12 of his 39 passes have been thrown behind the line of scrimmage, and 28 have been within ten yards of the line of scrimmage. On Sunday, 72.4% of his passing attempts were within ten yards of the line, and his average depth of target was 2.4 yards down the field.
For comparison, 61.1% of the passes that Fields has thrown this year were within ten yards. Fields has a 16% deep ball rate, while Bagent is at 4.7. For his career, the lowest ADOT game Justin Fields ever had was 3.3, and that was this season. This year, his ADOT is at 8.4 yards down the field, so on average, he is six yards further per attempt than Bagent.
However, for his career, Justin Fields has a 9.5 average depth of target. So, Luke Getsy had already been trying to bring Fields in with more short passing attempts. Since Getsy had the chance to do it more with Tyson Bagent, that is the route he went.
Two things that could be true are that the Raiders did not know what to expect, they prepared for a little more downfield passing, and the change was surprising. Also, the offense that Getsy wants to run is more suited for a quarterback who gets the ball out in the short areas, and he is not looking for that downfield attack.