8 winners and 4 losers from the Bears’ win over the Eagles: Case Keenum turns back the clock while Dennis Allen’s defense came to play
Case Keenum stepped in as the QB3 and delivered a phenomenal performance, but Chicago’s red zone play calling and an injury at left tackle raise some slight concerns heading into Week 4.
The Chicago Bears just secured a massive win over the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that many counted them out of coming into Monday Night Football against an undefeated team with a third string quarterback at the helm.
And yet, the Bears overcame the odds at Soldier Field, coming out with a 27-7 win fueled by that third string quarterback in Case Keenum, who was stellar in his first regular season start with the Bears operating Ben Johnson’s offense.
This was a great coaching win for Chicago, on offense and on defense. So, let’s break down what we saw, both the good and some of the bad.
Winner: Case Keenum delivered for the Bears offense
Keenum was absolutely phenomenal in this game. His pocket presence, understanding of the offense, the way he attacked the blitz, and ability to throw to spots rather than waiting for receivers to come open all stood out. He’s a veteran in this league for a reason.
The expectation heading in was that Johnson would lean on a heavy ground attack, similar to how the Bears attacked the Eagles last year. Yet, the run game never got going the way you would expect from a Ben Johnson offense over the last two years, but Keenum still did everything he needed to do for this offense.
He kept drives alive, moved the ball, and avoided pressure. Everything you knew a veteran quarterback should be able to do, he did while playing within the confines of this scheme. The performance gives Chicago a lot more confidence in what it has with Keenum running the show while Williams is out.
Loser: Tyson Bagent might not get his opportunity after all
The Bears wanted to see Bagent in this game, the fans wanted to see him, and Bagent wanted the opportunity to prove he can be a starter. Unfortunately, after Williams got hurt last week, Bagent suffered a concussion and missed the entire week of practice through Saturday. He cleared protocol on Sunday, but he missed too much time to start.
After the game Keenum just had, you would have to think the Bears roll with Keenum again next week against the New York Jets in Week 4. That’s a tough break for Bagent, who wanted a starting chance to prove he can be a starting-caliber quarterback in this league. Injuries happen, but he missed his opportunity, and Keenum rose to the occasion on Monday night and should get rewarded for that.
The competition between those two will be something to watch this week with Williams expected to miss a couple more weeks of action.
Loser: Braxton Jones suffers another injury setback
The Bears had been rotating Braxton Jones with Theo Benedet at left tackle, spelling Jones for a couple of drives each of the first two weeks. Jones was still primarily the starter playing the majority of snaps on the blindside at that continued on Monday.
However, Jones got hurt in the first half on a bull rush by Jonathan Greenard, going down with a knee injury. It was the same knee that plagued him last year, the one that forced him to injured reserve. The problems still popping up with his knee is concerning, and sets back all the work he has done to get healthy this year, which makes this especially unfortunate for him.
Now the Bears have a question heading into Week 4. Offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo has been healthy but inactive each of the last two weeks as he continues rehabbing from a torn patellar tendon suffered back in January, but he still isn’t game ready.
With Jones potentially down for an extended period, is it finally time to pull the reins off Trapilo and let him go against the Jets? Perhaps the Bears spell him with Benedet in Week 4, but Trapilo making his debut next week feels like the most likely outcome.
Winner: Dennis Allen and Al Harris should feel really proud about this defense
The defensive coaching staff did a phenomenal job in this game doing exactly what I said they needed to do: getting pressure with the four-man rush.
Jalen Hurts can be at his best against the blitz, and Allen knew that. The pre-snap confusion looks frustrated Hurts, and the Bears generated pressure against a weak Eagles offensive line without needing to send extra rushers.
Austin Booker, Grady Jarrett, and Dayo Odeyingbo all had strong games rushing the passer. The pressure forced Hurts into mistakes, including a bad interception to linebacker T.J. Edwards, who dropped back into coverage on the outside and read it perfectly. And Edwards played an exceptional game on Monday.
To make Al Harris happy, the unit collected another three takeaways: the forced fumble by Booker, the Edwards interception, and a rookie Dillon Thieneman interception in the endzone when Andy Dalton was in at quarterback (Thieneman also led the team with six tackles in this game).
Loser: Ben Johnson’s redzone play-calling needs improvement
This remains an issue with Johnson. Early in the game, the Bears had second-and-goal after Colston Loveland was stopped short of the goal line. Instead of going under center and running it in with D’Andre Swift or Kyle Monangai, the Bears went to a pistol formation for a rush that went for a loss. Third down brought an incomplete pass to Rome Odunze, a drop in the end zone that he needs to come down with. Fourth down was another incompletion. Not only did the Bears fail to get seven, they got zero when six was there for the taking with better play calling.
Johnson rectified his mistake later in the fourth quarter when Keenum scored a 1-yard touchdown run from under center. Just trust the offensive line. The last three weeks have shown questionable decisions near the goal line, and the Bears cannot afford to leave points off the board in those situations.
Loser: Cam Lewis’ injury adds another concern to the secondary
The veteran defensive back Cam Lewis started nickel for the majority of the game with rookie Malik Muhammad II on the outside and Tyrique Stevenson on the bench despite being healthy. Stevenson had been dealing with a hamstring issue heading into the game and stayed on the sideline until Lewis went down in the fourth quarter.
Lewis appeared to get hurt on the play to Makai Lemon, holding his side before going down with no contact on the next snap. If Lewis misses time, the Bears could return to the secondary grouping of Jaylon Johnson and Stevenson on the outside, Muhammad in at nickel, and Xavier Woods at safety alongside Thieneman.
