Case Keenum took the field as the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears Monday night football He will make his first regular season appearance since the 2023 NFL season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
And the veteran turned back the clock, leading the Bears to an impressive 27-7 victory.
To sum up Keenum’s football journey, the 38-year-old quarterback was a member of the team. 2006 high school recruiting classAlong with players like Percy Harvin, Sergio Kindle, Myron Rolle, Tim Tebow, DeMarco Murray, Gerald McCoy, LeSean McCoy and Brandon Graham.
Yet, there it was on Keenum. Monday night footballHe led the Bears to an unexpected victory as the team’s first quarterback due to injuries to starter Caleb Williams and backup Tyson Bagent.
“At any point in your career, it feels good to play well,” Keenum said He said after the performance. That earned him a game ball from head coach Ben Johnson. Once you think you don’t play often, you might as well do it on Monday Night Football. Golly, this is special. It’s really special. And I don’t know if I can put it into words tonight, but I’m going to enjoy it tonight, that’s for sure.
Keenum completed 24-of-34 passes for 247 yards and a pair of touchdowns on a night that everyone, including Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, expected the Bears to run the football as much as possible to help their third-string quarterback. As the Bears struggled to run the running game as of late, and Johnson mentioned the importance of running the football during his halftime interview with ESPN, Keum continued to slingshot.
Luther Burden’s first touchdown came under the hood of the wide receiver and his teammates when the ball was initially stopped just short of the end zone and rolled into the end zone.
Keenum’s second touchdown pass, however, had a higher level of difficulty:
The move from Burden on the snap creates confusion in the secondary, as both Cooper DeJean and Tariq Wallen end up on Burden on the outside. That frees Calif Raymond in the post lane and Keenum punishes the mistake, making the quick throw to Raymond and doing the rest.
But it’s clear from the game plan that Johnson had faith in Keenum. Early in the first quarter, the Bears faced 4th-and-1 at the Philadelphia 32-yard line, and Johnson not only kept the offense on the field, but put the ball in Keenum’s hands to throw it downfield.
That’s quick thinking from a quarterback.
When Fangio decides to apply pressure, Keenum punishes the blitz. According to charting data, the Eagles blitzed Keenum with 12 dropbacks last night.
In those snaps, the third-string quarterback completed 11-of-11 passes for 145 yards, and both touchdowns. The best throw of the night, in my view, came against a blitz on this deep route to Rom Odunze under heavy pressure late in the second quarter.
Keenum’s performance, especially with the Flash, may have been born out of just the preparation leading up to Monday night. With both Williams and Bagents sidelined — Williams out with a muscle strain and Bagent in concussion protocol — Keenum was running the show for Chicago this week. He was the only quarterback to practice all three days of practice last week for the Eagles.
That spilled over into the quarterback meeting Sunday night, Johnson told ESPN.
“It was the night before the game. We always have our quarterback meeting,” Johnson said after the game. He ran the show, and the coaching staff took a back seat, there were no prompts from us, he went through every single play on the schedule and what he was going to do, and he gave us his favorites. And that’s really – I thought that was a good indicator of what it’s like on game day.
Johnson spoke about Keum’s perception after the win:
“Everybody knows where to be on every play and so is very quick to identify coverage.” said the head coach. He knows why we’re calling the play and what we’re looking for, and if we’re not getting it, he’s accelerating. That’s what you get when you play 15 and over 15 years in this league.
As for the quarterback, he called it another “shot” at the chance to play in the NFL, something you “wish for” as a player.
“To get a shot like that again? Yeah, you dream about it,” Keenum said. “That’s why I’m doing this when I’m down. I’ve been down my whole career, just getting up, coming to work, getting back up.”
And with Williams expected to be sidelined for an extended period of time and after his performance Monday night, he could get another shot or two this season.
But even if he didn’t get another shot, it was an incredible night for the quarterback. And adding to the experience, it’s the first time Keenum’s two young children have seen him play in person.
“Hopefully they stopped. Hopefully they didn’t fall asleep there. It was exciting for them.” Keenam said Tomorrow I will enjoy watching the game with them on the couch or maybe the oldies. You probably never want to see it again. They’re like, ‘We’ve seen each other, Dad.’
There is one other note about that 2006 recruiting class beyond Keenum.
Another member of that group?
Give it to the old people.
