CHICAGO -- The night belonged to Case Keenum. And so did a game ball.
After leading the Chicago Bears to a dominant 27-7 win over the perennial NFC heavyweight Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, which marked his first start in 1,009 days, Keenum was handed the commemorative football and the floor in the postgame locker room at Soldier Field.
With quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent looking on behind him, Keenum delivered a passionate postgame speech about his 67th career start. He talked about how his opportunities to play meaningful football had routinely been taken away and how he rediscovered his love for the game after coach Ben Johnson persuaded him to come out of retirement and be a part of Chicago's quarterback room in 2025.
With Williams dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring strain that is expected to keep him out three to four weeks and Bagent not clearing the NFL's concussion protocol until Sunday, the Bears turned to their third-string quarterback to get their second win of the season.
"It's all about Case Keenum and what he was able to do here tonight," Johnson said. "I thought he did an extraordinary job."
At 38 years and 223 days old, Keenum became the second-oldest quarterback in franchise history to win a start (Todd Collins has him beat by 116 days). Chicago's 20-point win was its largest on "Monday Night Football" since Week 15 of the 2010 season at the Vikings.
Keenum didn't resemble a backup quarterback who was trying to keep his team afloat in the absence of its starter. He accounted for three touchdowns and zero turnovers in the win, leading Chicago on an 11-play, 66-yard opening drive that ended with Keenum finding Luther Burden III for an 8-yard touchdown.
Keenum later connected with Kalif Raymond on a 41-yard touchdown late in the third quarter and dove into the end zone on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Keenum has won games as a starting quarterback with seven different franchises, tying his former Texans teammate Ryan Fitzpatrick for the most in NFL history.