Many Chicago Bears fans will remember where they were when Case Keenum started and dominated the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football on September 29, 2026.
Keenum made his first start since the 2023 season with the Houston Texans and led them to a 27-7 win over Philly in Week 3. He finished by completing 24-of-34 for 247 yards and two touchdowns, and he added a rushing score in the win.
After that game, a whole new conversation is starting up in Chicago about who should start in Week 4 against the New York Jets. Keenum made a strong argument that he should start over Tyson Bagent again.
Should the Bears start Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent in Week 4?
No Bears fan could have ever predicted a QB controversy between Bagent and Keenum at the start of the regular season, but that appears to be the case (pun not intended). Caleb Williams is expected to miss the next two to three games after missing his first NFL game against the Eagles.
This leaves Bears head coach Ben Johnson in a tough spot about who to pick between the two. After the game, Johnson was asked about the starting quarterback for their upcoming Week 4 game against the New York Jets, but he remained mum about his choice.
“We’ll have a discussion as a coaching staff, and we’ll see where we need to go from here,” Johnson said via ProFootballTalk. “But I said it last week, and I’ll say it again: There was a reason Tyson ended training camp as our No. 2 quarterback.”
Bagent and Keenum are just two very different types of quarterbacks. Keenum showed that he can move around a bit in the pocket, but he will ultimately be a pocket passer and rarely use his legs. Bagnet is more likely to run and play similarly to Williams.
Ultimately, after watching what Keenum did against one of the best defenses in the NFL with the Eagles, how could this decision be any harder? No one should ever lose their job because of injury, but a team can't pass up a hot hand either.
The new reality is that Bagent is now the quarterback who hasn't started a game since 2023, and he is still in his mid-20s. Keenum is a 38-year-old veteran who knows how to come off the bench and now has a game under his belt in 2026.
When the running game wasn't working, Johnson asked Keenum to throw the football 34 times, and he delivered. Most importantly, Keenum didn't turn the ball over once and made sure he didn't hurt his football team in any way. That's the job of a backup who starts games.
Read more: 8 surprising takeaways from Bears' blowout win over Eagles on MNF
No disrespect to Bagent, who's been incredible in the preseason, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Keenum should probably get another start for the Bears and keep up the Cinderella run he is on right now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google