Things escalated quickly in a matter of days a week ago, with Caleb Williams suffering a hamstring injury and Tyson Bagent entering concussion protocol, and here we are. Case Keenum will jump from No. 3 on the depth chart to starting under center for the Chicago Bears against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Keenum has not started, or even appeared in, a regular season game since 2023 when he played for the Houston Texans. Going back further, he hasn't had more than 72 pass attempts in season since 2019 when he started eight games for the then-Washington Redskins.
So the offensive formula for the Bears is crystal clear for Monday night, prominently featuring running backs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. That run-focused formula worked quite well against the Eagles last season.
Keenum will have to be somewhat successful when he does drop back to throw though, just to keep the Eagles' defense honest. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will do all he can to create tough circumstances for those moments. It may come down to simply avoiding turnovers to keep the Bears in the game.
Case Keenum can make some Bears history on Monday night
As noted by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Keenum will become the second-oldest quarterback to ever start a game for the Bears (38 years and 223 days old) when he takes the first offensive snap on Monday night.
Only Todd Collins, when he started a game for the Bears in 2010, will be ahead of him at 38 years and 339 days old.
However, Keenum can become the oldest Bears' quarterback to throw a touchdown pass if he gets that done against the Eagles. The current record holder there is Dave Krieg, who was 38 years and 55 days old when he did it in 1996.
Once Keenum's start is official, Krieg will drop from the third to the fourth-oldest quarterback to ever start a game for the Bears.
The oldest Bears player to throw a touchdown pass will continue to be to punter Mike Horan, who threw an 18-yard shovel pass on a fake field goal in 1998. Horan was 39 years and 301 days old when he did it.
Keenum can also become the oldest player in Bears history to throw for 230 or more yards in a game if he does that on Monday night, topping Krieg there as well. Keenum also hasn't done that since 2019, when he threw for 332 yards against the Bears while he played for Washington.
Read more: The 25 greatest defensive players in Chicago Bears history
Keenum will ideally need only one start before one of Williams or Bagent is healthy enough to return to action. But with a couple of reasonably attainable marks, he could make it a memorable one-off by putting himself in the Bears' history books.
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