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Rust Is the Problem for Bears With Case Keenum and Not the Mileage

At 38, Keenum would be the second-oldest Bears QB ever to start a game but that's not as much of an obstacle as his shortage of playing time in recent years.
Gene Chamberlain|
Case Keenum rolls out to throw against the Tennessee Titans during a Bears preseason win.
Case Keenum rolls out to throw against the Tennessee Titans during a Bears preseason win. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

It's not so much age working against Case Keenum when he does as expected by starting for coach Ben Johnson and the Bears Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Being 38 years old like Keenum doesn't even make him the oldest Bears quarterback to start a game. Todd Collins' one forgettable start for the Bears came at age 39 in 2010, a win over Carolina when he was yanked late following an interception in favor of Caleb Hanie after throwing for a whopping 32 yards.

Being 38 doesn't seem to bother Matthew Stafford. Aaron Rodgers is only 23 years from being eligible for Medicare. Tom Brady won two Super Bowls in his 40s and Peyton Manning won one at 39, So how much of a problem can it really be?

The real problem is returning from so much inactivity at that age to play. It's not like Keenum is Philip Rivers, returning after retiring in 2021 to play last year. However, he hasn't exactly been facing NFL defenses with great regularity in live situaitons.

You get used to practicing, playing in preseason and watching without the intense and rapid ferocity of in-season NFL games. A QB can more or less rust away in that case. It's something for Bears fans to worry about if it really is Keenum taking the field Monday night.

When Keenum last played

Keenum hasn't started a meaningful game since Dec. 24, 2023. He played two games in that season for the Texans and in his last one was pulled from the game in favor of Davis Mills after throwing an interception. He had only 62 yards on 11 of 17 in a 36-22 loss by the Texans to the Browns. A week earlier, he had been the QB to save the day as Houston didn't trust Mills to get it done. Keenum delivered a victory in overtime over Tennessee and went 23 of 36 for 229 yards with a TD and interception.

Those are the only two regular season games he started since 2021 and his only other passes were seven in mop-up roles when he got in at the end of two games for Buffalo in 2022.

Keenum, of course, engineered the Minneapolis Miracle in the 2017 playoffs with the help of Stefon Diggs. He hit Diggs on a 27-yard pass at the New Orleans 34, and Saints defensive back Marcus Williams whiffed entirely trying to either break up the pass or make the tackle. Diggs merely turned upfield on the game's final play from scrimmage and went the distance as time expired in the 29-24 victory.

The thing about Keenum's pass was if Williams had knocked Diggs out of bounds, the Vikings could have won the game with a 51-yard or 52-yard field goal. He caught the ball with five seconds left. The whiff let Diggs take it in as time expired. It was much like Colston Loveland's Bears catch last year in Cincinnati, although it was the final play and Loveland's came with a few plays remaining for the Bengals.

Revenge against the Eagles?

Keenum then had one more start in those 2017 playoffs. It came against the Eagles in the NFC championship game. He and the Vikings were blown out in Philly 38-7.

He'll try to beat the Eagles again Monday night. The Bears don't really need a miracle as much as they can use a solid effort.

Something like he posted this past preseason with 8.8 yards per completions and a 107.7 passer rating, or when he put up a 139.6 passer rating in 2024 in preseason would be beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

Hand off, throw short, make no mistakes and avoid negative plays would suit Ben Johnson and the coaching staff just fine.

It could simply be a matter of clearing away the cobwebs — something accomplished while Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo and Jonathan Greenard are coming after him. He'll need to clear them away with expediency.

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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.

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