Over the past two years, Bagent has built a close rapport with Alexander while working together in practice and preseason games.
“[Alexander] is one of my favorite receivers that I’ve ever thrown the ball to, and I’ve thrown the ball to a lot of different people in my career,” Bagent said. “He is an extremely hard worker, and he is an extremely good route runner. He continues to put good things on tape, so whenever somebody does that, I’m more likely to look to them, especially when they’re No. 1 in the progression.”
Alexander’s TD capped a 16-play, 69-yard drive that burned 9:14 off the clock and was highlighted by three successful fourth-down conversions. Running back Roschon Johnson’s 3-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Bears 40 and Bagent’s 11-yard pass to Alexander on fourth-and-2 from the Titans’ 38 preceded the touchdown.
“I know the first one was a pass,” Bagent said. “But that second one, being able to convert a short yardage run when pretty much everybody in the stadium knows you’re running the ball, that’s a huge confidence boost for the big boys.”
“They just kept making it fourth-and-manageable for us, and we felt like we had some calls,” Ben Johnson said. “I thought the guys did a great job. Roschon was willing to lower his shoulder and make sure we got the first down.”
Johnson led the Bears in rushing with 52 yards on 15 carries.
The Titans climbed to within 14-9 on Slye’s third field goal, a 25-yarder, as time expired in the first half.
In the first half, Bagent posted a 156.9 passer rating while also leading the Bears in rushing with 21 yards on two carries. He was replaced by veteran Case Keenum to start the third quarter.
The Bears defense opened the second half with three straight three-and-outs, enabling the offense to extend the lead to 24-9 entering the fourth quarter on Johnson’s 3-yard TD run and Cairo Santos’ 37-yard field goal.
