Case Keenum and Bears pull away from Eagles 27-7

Chicago took the game away in the third quarter, first with Cairo Santos’ 48-yard field goal and then with Case Keenum’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Kalif Raymond. That five-play, 71-yard answer turned a 13-7 game into a 20-7 Bears lead with 5:47 left in the quarter, and Chicago finished a 27-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, September 28.

The decisive sequence was abrupt because Philadelphia could not sustain anything after halftime. Its first two possessions of the third quarter produced a punt after three plays and another punt after four, while the Bears needed only 2:49 to turn their second possession of the half into Raymond’s touchdown. Chicago’s defense kept handing its offense manageable game states, and Keenum made the biggest one count.

Chicago takes the early ground

The Bears opened with the sort of possession that set their terms for the night: 11 plays, 66 yards and 6:05 off the clock. Keenum finished it with an 8-yard touchdown pass, giving Chicago a 7-0 lead at 8:47 of the first quarter and putting Philadelphia into a game it never led.

Philadelphia’s first major chance to answer dissolved after it traveled 95 yards over 14 plays from its own 3 early in the second quarter. Dillon Thieneman ended that march with an interception and a touchback. An interception is more than a takeaway here: it stopped a drive that had pushed the Eagles deep into Chicago territory and preserved the Bears’ lead.

Chicago then used 11 plays and 4:22 to travel 69 yards for Santos’ 29-yard field goal. The Bears did not always finish drives in the end zone—their possession after a Philadelphia fumble began at the opponent’s 15 and ended on downs—but they repeatedly made the Eagles defend long sequences. Chicago ran 68 plays to Philadelphia’s 45, a possession edge that became more important as the game settled in.

A brief Eagles surge, then the break

Philadelphia did find its moment just before halftime. A 30-yard Jalen Hurts completion to DeVonta Smith put the ball at the Chicago 19, and Hurts finished the final possession with a 1-yard rushing touchdown as the second quarter expired, cutting the score to 10-7.

The win-probability record shows how unstable those final seconds were. Chicago’s chance to win fell as low as 29.9%, and Philadelphia reached 70.1% with 0:19 left in the second quarter. Yet the Bears entered the second half ahead, then immediately restored separation with Santos’ 48-yard kick.

That was the point where the efficiency profile began to match the scoreboard. EPA, or expected points added per play, estimates how much a play changes a team’s expected scoring; Chicago posted 0.09 EPA per play, while Philadelphia was at -0.38. Chicago’s passing game drove that advantage at 0.21 EPA per play, compared with -0.36 for Philadelphia’s passing attack.

Keenum’s control and a clean finish

Keenum completed 24 of 34 passes for 247 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, repeatedly keeping Chicago on schedule before striking downfield to Raymond. Raymond finished with six catches for 90 yards and the touchdown that broke the game open. D’Andre Swift added 84 yards on 20 carries, giving the Bears a steady rushing workload even though their rushing EPA per play was -0.04.

Success rate—the share of plays that produce positive EPA—also captured Chicago’s more reliable night. The Bears were successful on 51% of their plays, against 47% for Philadelphia, and they never turned the ball over. Philadelphia committed three turnovers, and its final two possessions ended on an interception and a turnover on downs.

What comes next

Keenum added the final touchdown himself, a 1-yard run that capped a 16-play, 58-yard drive lasting 8:04 and made it 27-7 with 7:19 remaining. Hurts finished 16 of 25 for 153 yards with an interception, while Saquon Barkley had 82 yards on 15 carries and Smith caught six passes for 65 yards. The Eagles and Bears are both 2-1; Philadelphia hosts the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago hosts the New York Jets on Sunday, October 4.