Veteran quarterback Case Keenum led the Chicago Bears to a primetime victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. More on Keenum's special night at Soldier Field.
CHICAGO -- Case Keenum lined up under center and dropped back back against the Philadelphia Eagles defense on a first-and-10 with 5:55 left in the third quarter. The Chicago Bears' veteran quarterback planted his right foot into the Soldier Field grass and released the football before wide receiver Kalif Raymond looked back for the pass. Keenum connected and Raymond outran everyone for a 41-yard touchdown.
That play perfectly represents Keenum and how he positioned himself to throw for 247-yards and two touchdowns in the Bears' 27-7 victory on Monday Night Football. The veteran quarterback also added a 1-yard rushing touchdown, a moment his teammates were thrilled to celebrate with the 38-year-old.
"I mean, to play well anytime in your career feels good," Keenum said. "To do it on Monday Night Football after you thought you weren't ever going to play again, multiple times, golly, this is special. It's really special. I don't know if I'll be able to put it into words tonight, but I'm going to enjoy it tonight that's for sure."
It was Keenum's first start since Dec. 24, 2023 -- when he was a part of the Houston Texans organization. Although it had been 1,009 days since that day, Keenum's 80 games of playing experience provided the veteran with a strong foundation he could tap into to help prepare for the primetime matchup.
Keenum shared during his postgame press conference that this week entailed 14-16 hour workdays, barely seeing his wife and kids. He reviewed hours of film and set his phone to do not disturb, giving access to only head coach Ben Johnson and his wife, Kimberly.
"I'll let you guess who called more," Keenum said. "But, I mean, this week was a blast. I mean, just getting more reps and having game plan plays that we're looking through film and trying to figure out ways to beat these guys."
That meant getting extra practice reps with a majority of his receivers who he hasn't thrown to a lot before this week because Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent are the top quarterbacks.
Raymond's 41-yard touchdown was a byproduct of that extra preparation.
"Based on what they were doing, I was like there is a possibility I'm getting the ball and it kind of worked out the right way," Raymond said. "And then this week, actually that particular play, me and Case worked after practice, 'Hey, man we get a certain look, certain things happen, it's coming to you.' Certain things started happening ..."
Keenum credited Raymond's route, the offensive line's protection and Johnson's design on the play. The veteran quarterback did have questions about that specific play during the week, but that back and fourth communication between the two illustrates why the passing offense looked they way it did.
The Bears leaned on Keenum's arm against an Eagles team that was undefeated coming into Soldier Field. He completed 24 of his 34 attempts, finishing with zero sacks and 110.8 quarterback rating. It didn't matter that he hadn't started a game since 2023 or that he didn't receive starting reps before this week.
"He was confident in what he was doing," Johnson said. "You know, the night before the game we always do our quarterback meeting, and he ran the show. The coaching staff kind of took a back seat, and there were no reminders from us. He was just going through the list of every single play that was on the plan and what he was going to do and gave us his favorites and that was really it. I thought that right there is a good indicator of what it's going to look like on gameday, and, you know, we needed it. We needed him to play that well, particularly how slow we were staying on schedule in terms of that running ame there for the first three quarters, so not a surprise at all. He tackled everything this week with enthusiasm. ..."
Keenum's teammates responded to his approach, believing in the veteran signal caller.
But that wasn't the case outside of Halas Hall. Johnson acknowledged last week that people were already writing off the Bears because of the injuries at quarterback. Keenum heard the Bears were 10-point underdogs, when in reality it was 3.5, but he said 10 sounds better.
"I mean I've always played with a little chip on my shoulder," Keenum said. "It's nice to prove people wrong. I like proving people right, though."
When Keenum said that during his press conference, his wife and children were sitting off to his left and members of his family scattered the perimeter of the room.
In an interview with Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter, Keenum held his daughter, Cadence, on his lap and expressed what this experience meant to him.
"This is going to go down as one of the more special nights of my life," Keenum said. "I'm so glad to share it with that team in there, with this team right here at home, so really special."
