Who could have seen this performance coming from the Chicago Bears with Case Keenum at quarterback? After not playing in an NFL game in over 1,000 days, Keenum did not miss a beat for Chicago with a completion percentage of 70.6 and three total touchdowns in the Bears' 27-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
What might be more impressive than Keenum’s performance is how well the defense played. The Eagles had trouble getting their offense going the entire game except for their drive right before halftime which was also the only time they scored. The Bears’ defense forced three turnovers which were also crucial to the win.
Here is a look at the good, bad and ugly from Chicago’s dominant win over Philadelphia to improve to 2-1 on the season:
The Good
Complete
win: This was the Bears’ most complete win of the season so far. While their win against the Carolina Panthers was impressive, this victory against the Eagles had elite performances in all three phases. Keenum was not the only player who had a career night. Rookie safety Dillon Thieneman looked like one of the best safeties in the NFL and linebacker T.J. Edwards had a beautiful interception on fourth down. Chicago showed what they are capable of when everyone is doing what they need to do and this is without their starting quarterback Caleb Williams.
Case Keenum: Without question, the best story in this game is Case Keenum, who was thrust into the starting role after Williams was unable to play due to a hamstring injury and Tyson Bagent spent most of the week in concussion protocol. Keenum had not played in an NFL game since 2023 and never defeated the Eagles, but that did not matter. Nearly every pass he threw was exactly where he needed to put it and easily could have had four total touchdowns. It was also his first game with a rushing touchdown since 2019. Everyone loves a comeback story and Keenum’s performance was, without a doubt, the best comeback of the season.
Penalties: There were a lot of great things in this game, but one of them was the lack of penalties on the Bears. Penalties were a problem for them in the first two games of the season, but not in their Monday night showdown against Philadelphia while the Eagles had 10 total penalties. One of those penalties was on a fourth down where Keenum used his cadence to make Philadelphia jump offsides. That ultimately led to a Bears touchdown. Especially after their struggles with untimely penalties, it was nice to see this aspect of the game in Chicago’s favor.
The Bad
Sam Roush touchback: After having a bad game against the Minnesota Vikings, rookie tight end Sam Roush had a chance for a comeback in this game. His only catch of the game was on a fourth down conversion, which was good. But, the rookie still has some things to improve on special teams. Punter Tory Taylor had a beautiful punt that should have been downed at the two yard line after Josh Blackwell kept it from going in the end zone. However, when Roush touched the ball, his foot was in the end zone and turned it into a touchback. It ultimately did not matter because Tank Bigsby fumbled the ball two plays later, but it is still something the Bears can look at as a point of improvement.
Rome Odunze: Keenum really should have had three touchdown passes. After the Bigsby fumble, Chicago got all the way down to the Eagles’ one-yard line. I do not blame tight end Colston Loveland for not extending the ball when he got to the one as he was trying to prioritize ball security. That should not have mattered because on third and goal, Keenum had a perfect pass to the end zone for Rome Odunze which hit his finger tips and he ultimately caught it out of bounds. For a player like Odunze, he should have come down with that catch. He also finished the game with only three receptions for 44 yards. That is not the performance you want from someone who is supposed to be your top wide receiver.
The Ugly
Jaylon Johnson: What is wrong with Jaylon Johnson this season? He had two horrible games against the Carolina Panthers and Vikings and did not look any better in Chicago’s win against the Eagles with the exception of his tackle for loss. With how well rookie Malik Muhammad has played as well as Tyrique Stevenson, who looked much better against the Vikings, the Bears may have to think about benching their star corner if he does not turn things around soon because right now, he is a liability for this defense.
Run game in the first half: Chicago’s run game ended up having a decent night with a total of 128 rushing yards and the touchdown from Keenum. However, in the first half, the Bears could not get much of anything going on the ground. That is probably more because of the Eagles defense. After how badly the Bears embarrassed them on the ground last season and with a third-string quarterback, they probably thought they could win the game if they shut down the rushing attack. That did not work out so well. This does not seem like it will be a lingering issue, especially since they picked things up in the second half of this game.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Good, bad and ugly from Bears' electric win vs. Eagles in Week 3
