Tyson Bagent's Priority: Protecting the Football

Analysis: Control of the football is one vital area where Tyson Bagent has been better so far than Justin Fields—even with a strip-sack and interception figured into it.

Tyson Bagent is as worried about the ball coming out of his hand when he doesn't want it to as he is about where it goes when he does want to get rid of it.

"I think ball security in the pocket was definitely a highlight of something I need to be more aware of," Bagent said.

Bagent didn't lose the ball in the last game but the first appearance he made when a strip sack provided the points needed by Minnesota to beat the Bears has apparently left a scar.

It's all another indication of how he's a different type of quarterback than Justin Fields has been, and whether that's better or worse is up for the Bears to decide.

After the win Sunday, Bagent still is noticing when he doesn't protect the football correctly. So is Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

"We always talk about two hands on the ball in the pocket at all times until you escape the dead zone," Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. "So, that showed up a couple times where he didn't do that.

"So that was just an emphasis that we wanted to make sure that we emphasize with him this week."

Bagent didn't fumble, though. They did have a strip sack again, but it was on the Hail Mary throw by Nathan Peterman just before halftime and came at the sideline as he tried to heave the football. The ball just went out of bounds.

It's especially good for Bagent to be aware of hanging onto the ball considering the Bears have been defeated in the last 17 games when they had someone lose at least one fumble. Facing Khalil Mack this week, with his knack for strip-sacks, makes securing the football especially important this week.

If Bagent is able to achieve good control of the football, it's at least one other area he'll have an edge over Fields.

In his 33 games played, Fields has fumbled 32 times. The Bears didn't lose all of those fumbles and Fields recovered 13 of them himself. However, when the football is loose it's never helping the offense's cause.

Ball security isn't he only basic quarterback function Getsy was glad to see from his rookie QB in Sunday's game.

"You know, just the fact that we were able to go out there and operate clean," Getsy said. "He went out and kept his poise like we expected him to do. He did a really nice job of handling, like we talked about in here all the time, it's not just the pass game, it's the run game that we put a lot on our quarterbacks to do a lot.

"He obviously went out there and showed he was able to do that."

Bagent did this despite a game when the Bears had nine penalties, second most this season. He didn't rattle.

Bagent also did not take any sacks. He got rid of it before pressure arrived or scrambled away—an ability he has which surprised many who hadn't seen him play much. The only Bears sack was of Peterman on the Hail Mary throw.

In 45 attempt to drop back and throw so far, Bagent has been sacked two times, or 4.4% of the time.

Fields has been sacked 24 times in 186 attempts to throw. That's 12.9% of the time.

And he's supposed to be the mobile quarterback.

It's not like the offensive line suddenly got healthy with Bagent at quarterback. They were still without Nate Davis and Braxton Jones, but this time had Teven Jenkins playing his old right guard spot instead of left guard. So better pass blockers wasn't  wasn't necessarily a benefit Bagent had that Fields lacked.

Sure, there is always the chance that Fields is going to break a long run by holding the ball longer and risking sack or a fumble. That was last year when he was breaking off 50-yard runs. This year he has two runs longer than 15 yards and none longer than 20. Bagent, for not being considered a running threat, had runs of 10 and 12 yards against the Raiders. It doesn't make him a breakaway threat but he can extend drives like this if pass blocking breaks down.

The goal since Bagent has been thrust into the lineup is to get him playing efficient enough football to win games.

Protecting the football, throwing accurately and getting it out of his hands before the rush arrived got them a win last week.

Perhaps they can do something to get Justin Fields more like Bagent when he comes back from his thumb injury.

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