Skip to main content
Bear Digest

Chicago Bears Week 3 Report Card: A Best-Case Scenario Against Eagles

Everything went the Bears' way, including QB Case Keenum's play in their 27-7 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field and the grades reflect it.
Gene Chamberlain|
Case Keenum reacts after a big first down run by the Bears in the second half Monday night.
Case Keenum reacts after a big first down run by the Bears in the second half Monday night. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In this story:

Chicago Bears

Ben Johnson called the loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 a slap in the face, or some other type of physical harm to somewhere on the anatomy.

"When you get punched in the teeth like that the week before, it's your first loss and you're not sure how you're going to handle it or respond," he said. "And yet these guys, they handled it the right way. I thought they went back to work."

Their work was a masterpiece. Teams don't usually manhandle another playoff team the way the Bears did the Eagles, winning 27-7. Philadelphia is a perennial contender in the NFC. Vic Fangio's defense did exactly what it wanted initially by limiting the Bears' running attack and the Eagles also played the way they wanted on offense, with a stronger running game than they showed in Philadelphia last year on Black Friday. But this turned into Black Monday for them.

In both cases, it was enough to put pressure on a team using a third-string quarterback like the Bears did with Case Keenum. But this didn't matter. Keenum was spectacular and the Bears adjusted, found other ways to achieve their ends, and in the final quarter dictated play with their running game anyway.

"I thought the results of tonight were a reflection of the preparation that they put in and the hard work they put in throughout the week," Johnson said. "So kudos to them on that. In regards to the game itself, I thought all three phases did some really nice things throughout. Our cleanest game to date with only five penalties. That certainly is a big deal for us."

Here are the grades from Week 3, when the Bears were in danger of falling below .500 but found a way to achieve a smashing success behind Keenum and a defense now starting to figure out how to play together with so many new contributors.

Running game: B

Normally a 3.7-yard average is no reason to celebrate but the really key numbers in their ground game were 6 yards rushing by Keenum and 35 team rushing attempts. If a team can run 35 times even when they're having problems, it means they didn't give up and ultimately it paid off in the second half. They had 101 yards rushing in the second half as the blocking finally wore away the Eagles. This is usually how it works going up against good defenses. They won't cave immediately and the Eagles didn't. D'Andre Swift has had past tendencies to cut it outside too much when this happens but he stayed disciplined, and Kyle Monangai didn't let lack of an opening keep him from plowing forward in his usual manner.

Passing attack: A+

A drop by Rome Odunze was about the only small smudge on this sterling performance. All of the receivers, including Odunze, made the adjustment to a different quarterback who they hadn't played with and they had true route integrity while catching it in time within the offense. Keenum truly turned back the clock to his younger days of the Minneapolis Miracle, when he was considered an NFL starter. His throws sometimes came out at the last possible second but it was a true display of anticipatory passing. He knew where the receiver was supposed to be, threw it to the area and the receivers were there to make the catch. It was something Caleb Williams should have been watching.

Run defense: B

Saquon Barkley tore the Bears up for 73 yards and 6.6 yards per rush in the first half, but then came a change in tactics and the front got more stout. Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, James Lynch and Austin Booker closed down the backside and attack point, the defensive tackles hit the point of attack and the defensive backs and linebacker filled running lanes in the second half. The 107 total rushing yards and high 5.6 yards per carry by the Eagles for the game were almost entirely pointless, especailly when they could do nothing with it.

Pass defense: A

An occasional glitch, like a 30-yard completion over Jaylon Johnson, was absorbed by the scheme. Dillon Thieneman produced the biggest interception on the night by picking off backup QB Andy Dalton because the defense had answered one wasted scoring chance by taking away one on a 96-yard Eagles drive. The interception by T. J. Edwards clinched it and despite dropping one, he had an outstanding night overall with three pass breakups. Even the pointless 15-yard penalty for a late hit at the sidelines on D'Marco Jackson had its purpose, showing Jalen Hurts what he had to look forward to if he tried using his legs. Hurts threw for only 153 yards, had a 64.2 passer rating and the Bears even got to him for sacks by Sweat and Odeyingbo.

Special teams: A-

A small flaw here when one Cairo Santos kickoff just missed getting to the landing area. Beyond that, they bottled up the Eagles. Getting back long snapper Scott Daly seemed to make a difference. No problems with snaps or blocked kicks, although they did put Cole Kmet on the left side of the line to block instead of rookie Sam Roush. The return game and coverage units went through an uneventful night and there's nothing wrong with that after a game when they had a kick blocked.

Coaching: A+

Johnson's only mistake came after the game when he made a comment that could lead one to believe they might start Tyson Bagent against the Jets. Whatever they decide, he should just keep his old colleague Aaron Glenn guessing. Not saying a thing would have been preferable. Johnson taking a third-team, 38-year-old veteran and working the game plan to perfection truly showed the depth of his offensive coaching ability. He couldn't even be certain about Keenum starting until later in the week. Doing all of this when the ground game was initially failing made his effort all the more impressive. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen got a game ball, but that's what should happen when you hold the Eagles to their lowest output since coach Nick Sirianni's first year, 2021. He made the move to start Malik Muhammad at cornerback even with Tyrique Stevenson healthy and off the injury report. Muhammad played a solid game. You can't count on turnovers they say. Tell that to secondary coach Al Harris, after the Bears came up with their sixth takeaway of the young season. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower worked in the new/old long snapper and identified who needed to be moved out on the kicking team.

Overall: A

Right now, the only team in the NFC North that looks incapable of keeping up with the Vikings or overtaking them is Green Bay. The Bears are who they thought they were and winning with their third-string QB over a playoff contender in convincing fashion says so.

Sign Up For the Bears Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Chicago Bears Newsletter

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

Home/News