4 Keys to a Chicago Bears victory over the Raiders in Week 7

The 2023 NFL season isn’t even halfway over yet, and the Chicago Bears are already beginning to inch toward a quarterback controversy. With Justin Fields injured and set to miss at least one game, undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent will make his NFL debut on Sunday at home against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Ironically enough, Jimmy Garoppolo, the starting quarterback of the Raiders, is also injured. Las Vegas will start either Brian Hoyer or rookie Aiden O’Connell in his place.

These injuries will give this game some extra spice. Bagent will likely struggle in his first start, but what if he doesn’t? What if he goes out and throws for 260 yards and three touchdowns (and, perhaps, one interception)? What if Fields misses next week, too, and Bagent puts up a similar stat line on Sunday Night Football in front of a national audience? If you’re Ryan Poles or Matt Eberflus, who’s your starting quarterback in Week 9?

It’s all hypothetical for now, but if the Bears get a convincing win on Sunday, it’ll ignite the quarterback conversation. Here are the four keys to getting that victory in Week 7.

Help Tyson Bagent help the offense

This is the most significant factor: how will Tyson Bagent perform? It’s unfair to expect him to carry a 1-5 team on his back, so offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and the rest of the Bears must do their part.

Getsy needs to fine-tune his playcalling to match what Bagent does best. A lot of short routes, with one or two reads at the most, and chip blocks to help the offensive line. Bagent has good mechanics and can get the ball out in a hurry, so that’s what the passing game needs to be centered on. DJ Moore will be Bagent’s best friend in this case. He can get open as quickly as any receiver in the league, and he’s also great at contested catches. This should be another game where the Bears force-feed Moore as many targets as possible.

This includes the defense. They must keep the Raiders from getting ahead and forcing Bagent to play from behind. They have to take the ball away and give him short fields to work with. It takes a lot of pressure off a young quarterback if they only need 20 yards to get in scoring range instead of 40 or more.

The Bears don’t need Bagent to throw for 300 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday. If they can get good, efficient football out of the young quarterback, that should be enough for a win.

Slow down Maxx Crosby

You won’t stop Maxx Crosby, at least not with how he’s playing this year. This is especially true if Darnell Wright’s shoulder injury limits him (or even sidelines him).

The focus should be on slowing Crosby down. A less-disruptive Crosby gives the Bears offense a chance to operate a quick-hitting passing game. Bagent won’t need as much time as Justin Fields to get rid of the ball, he just needs some time.

Looking at the rest of the Raiders’ defense, it’s Crosby or bust in the pass rush. If the Bears can contain and hold him to a relatively quiet game, the offense shouldn’t have much trouble moving the ball down the field.

Get to the quarterback

The Raiders, like the Bears, will be crossing their fingers and praying that one of their backup quarterbacks can play just well enough to win the game. Chicago’s defense has to make sure that doesn’t happen. Las Vegas will field either a rookie or veteran journeyman under center, it’ll be an embarrassment if the Bears’ defense doesn’t have a strong showing.

The defensive line needs to get home and stuff this sack column of the stat sheet. Linebackers need to erase the middle of the field and bat down passes. And the secondary needs to take the ball away.

There are no excuses for the Chicago Bears defense this week.

Jaylon Johnson vs Davante Adams

This will be the key matchup to watch on Sunday, even if my Bears Talk colleague thinks Tyrique Stevenson will be the cornerback under the spotlight. The Raiders have a backup quarterback’s best friend on offense: a superstar wide receiver. Jaylon Johnson will have his hands full on Sunday, following Adams around.

Fortunately, Johnson is no stranger to Adams. They’ve faced each other six times in his career, all when Adams was on the Green Bay Packers, and say what you want about Jaylon Johnson’s lack of interceptions, but he is one of the best lockdown corners in the league. Quarterbacks don’t target him very often, and when they do, it doesn’t usually go well for them.

Johnson has been able to hold Adams to relatively subpar games before, and he needs to do it again. Fortunately for him, it won’t be future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball this time.

Final Prediction: Bears win 24-23

Last week, I had the Bears losing thanks to a regression from Fields, and that’s precisely what happened. This week, I’m feeling the Bears in this matchup.

I think Bagent will play just well enough to get the win, but some untimely turnovers will make this one a nail-biter. Ultimately, Bagent leads a last-minute drive to put up the game-winning score and gets the win in his NFL debut.

As Bagent told the media on Thursday, he has “nothing to lose.” Expect him to play like it and expect it to work out more often than not.