In an era where deep balls are the crux of many offenses, the art of the dink-and-dunk is nearly lost. An offense predicated on short passes isn't exciting, and tends to be inconsistent. However, when you have a rookie under center, a simple short pass offense can often work wonders. That's exactly what happened during the Chicago Bears' win in Week 7 with Tyson Bagent.

Bagent, the rookie sensation from the preseason, filled in for the injured Justin Fields in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders. With a rookie with limited prep, the Bears decided to simplify the offense with simple reads to get the ball out of his hands quickly. It worked to perfection: Chicago dumped 30 points on the struggling Las Vegas team for the win. It was a historic win for multiple reasons, including a dink-and-dunk record per Kevin Fishbain.

“Fun fact via @TruMediaSports: The Bears are the third team since 2013 to score 30+ points in a game without a 20+ yard play, joining the 2022 Bengals (Week 15) and 2021 Panthers (Week 10). The longest play from scrimmage was D’Onta Foreman’s 17-yard screen play.”

The Bears had a simple gameplan against the Raiders: get the ball out of Bagent's hands quickly and support him with a solid run game. Bagent did his job well and then some: he showed a lot of poise and anticipation as a passer, while being able to go off-script when things don't go his way. Bagent had a solid outing by rookie standards: 21-29 for 162 yards and a touchdown is just fine, especially for someone making his first start.

Does this mean that Bagent can supplant Fields as the Bears' starting QB? No, not quite. Despite his struggles this season, Fields still has a lot of promise and potential. The hope is that once he recovers from his shoulder injury, Fields can play up to the potential we saw from him against the Commanders. For now, though, Chicago will trudge along with Bagent as their guy.