Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson has a gift for turning routine roster decisions into a bit, and his Week 4 quarterback shuffle drew a glowing review from a man who spent seven seasons blocking in Chicago. Former Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long, now an analyst for NFL on CBS, broke it down on The Rich Eisen Show, hosted by Rich Eisen.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
The play came on Chicago’s first snap against the New York Jets. With starter Caleb Williams out for a second straight game with a hamstring strain, reports had indicated Tyson Bagent would start. Johnson sent out both quarterbacks instead. Case Keenum took the snap, handed off, and headed to the sideline, while Bagent lined up wide before taking over for the rest of the game. Long, speaking about Bagent, was thrilled by the whole thing.
“There’s the guy right there, Tyson Bagent. Selfless; didn’t complain when Case Keenum went out there. Got the start, and the one-play, second start for Tyson Bagent’s game, which is so Ben Johnson psychopath move behavior. I love it,” Long said on the show.
Johnson explained the decision after Chicago’s 23-12 win. He said it was a response to the reports that had already named Bagent the starter.
“Well, I got all these memos saying that Tyson was starting before I had ever made an announcement, so I now want to get Case out there the first time,” Johnson said. “It was like a ceremonial first pitch out there, hand off the torch.”
The move came with a catch for the record books. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin noted that Keenum gets credit for the win, while NBC Sports reported the official game book lists two starting quarterbacks for Chicago. Johnson shrugged it off, saying “Good for him” and that “the team gets credited for the win.”
Bagent did the rest. He finished 25-of-34 for 268 yards and an interception, and Chicago beat the Jets at Soldier Field to improve to 3-1. New York ran just 32 offensive plays to the Bears’ 89, the second-worst ratio between opponents in a single game in NFL history.
Chicago has needed its depth. The Bears opened with a 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers, the most points in franchise history for a season opener, before Williams strained his hamstring in a Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Bagent relieved him late, suffered a head injury, and cleared concussion protocol in time for Week 3, but Johnson started the 38-year-old Keenum, who threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-7 Monday night win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
“He just wanted to prove, right? Like everybody says, ‘Who’s starting this week?’ And guess what? I’m going to put two quarterbacks out there and make a mockery of the win-loss record,” Eisen said on his podcast.
Eisen asked whether watching the two quarterbacks run the offense could help Williams in the long run. Long said it might.
“The thing that has been in doubt is his ability to drop back, and when that back foot hits the ground at the top of his drop, deliver the strike on time in rhythm. Maybe he’s learned some from these guys,” Long said of Williams.
Long also praised Chicago’s defense. He said he had real concerns about it entering the season, but called it, in his opinion, one of the best third-down defense in the NFL at 23.7%, even as it is still finding its feet.
Johnson has already named Bagent the starter for Sunday’s trip to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers, with Williams still working back from the hamstring. Long said this Bears team “feels like destiny,” and Green Bay will be its first real test of that claim.