3 Reasons Why the Chicago Bears Won vs. the Philadelphia Eagles
· Yahoo Sports
Welcome back to the third installment of my new series for the 2026 season, where I recap what I believe were the three reasons the Chicago Bears won or lost the previous game.
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In week 3, the Bears hosted the 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night in front of a national audience and played inspired team football without Caleb Williams as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Here are my three reasons why they won.
1. Ben Johnson, HC
With the exception of one series where I would have liked for him to kick a field goal after Rome Odunze committed his weekly drop, this time in the endzone, Ben called his best game of the season and completely outcoached Nick Sirianni AND Eagles DC Vic Fangio. The fact that he did so with 3rd string QB Case Keenum (more on him later) was even more impressive. For me, I was most pleased with the decrease in penalties as that has been hindering us the first two weeks of the season. Ben had these Bears ready to play and bounce back from a lackluster effort the week prior in their first real emotional and mental test of the season. He also seemed to relish the opportunity to do so without a 1st overall pick at QB for him for the first time in his play calling career. Overall, it was a near 50/50 split of run and pass with some of the creative genius sprinkled throughout the game and the players were ready to play. I gave him blame last week in Chicago’s loss, and he bounced back in a big way against a playoff contender. Exactly what you like to see from your head coach.
2. Dennis Allen, DC
Speaking of coaches, Ben wasn’t the only one on Chicago’s sideline that was “in his bag” on Monday night. Don’t look now, but the former New Orleans Saints head coach has led this defense to two consecutive games holding Chicago opponents under 10 points per game. This week he did it with two rookies in the secondary against a Super Bowl winning team led by Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts. Reminiscent of a vintage Lovie Smith performance, this defense played “bend but don’t break” ball all night. Though All-World RB Saquon Barkley ran for 5.5 yards per carry and consistently got the Eagles down the field, this Bears defense held the Eagles to only 7 points when they had scored 24 in each of their first two games of the season.
Allen consistently seemed to befuddle Hurts with the appearance of pressure only to bring it from elsewhere or drop back into coverage. Massive hat tip to Secondary Coach Al Harris for having those two rookies ready to play as well. This team is not the same without Harris coaching the DBs, and he and Allen are doing impressive things with that group that is, without arguably its best player in Safety Coby Bryant. Don’t look now, but these Bears are for real. Even on defense.
3. Case Keenum, QB
Nobody can possibly talk about this game without bringing up the performance and effort by 12 year vet Case Keenum who made his first start in over 1,000 days. Not only did Case “rush” for his first TD since 2019, but he threw for two more scores and displayed exceptional awareness all night – knowing when and where to go with the football and spreading the ball around to his playmakers. All in all, seven Bears caught passes from the 38 year old girl-dad who earned himself a game ball and post-game interview on ESPN with his daughter in his lap.
Is his arm strength near elite? No, it is not, but it’s hard to argue with the results after his pinpoint accuracy and consistently elite decision-making picked apart Fangio’s defense, which has arguably the most talented defensive roster in the league. It would be easy to forget that Case has been the QB3 this entire season and off-season. Meaning, this was the first and only week that he had any work in practice with the top weapons on the team. That matters from a timing and precision standpoint, but Case trusted in his supporting cast, and they rewarded him with an unforgettable win on Monday night. Things you love to see. Take a look at some of these moments captured by Film Watchers below. These things simply don’t happen without complete trust and awareness in the game plan. In my opinion, there is no way you start anyone else next game.
You gotta love it pic.twitter.com/htIJ3p4d0Q
— Film Watchers (@Filmwatchers1) September 29, 2026