How does a 38-year-old third-string quarterback who had not started an NFL game in 1,009 days walk onto Monday Night Football and bury the undefeated Eagles? I have been asking myself that since last night, and the best answer I have is that football is fake and I love it. Case Keenum threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, ran one in himself, and the Bears won 27-7.
Caleb Williams is out with a hamstring strain and Tyson Bagent was still in the concussion protocol, so Chicago went to QB3, a guy Ben Johnson talked out of retirement last year. According to ESPN’s story on the Bears’ rousing victory over the Eagles, Keenum went 11-for-11 when Philadelphia blitzed him, which is the kind of stat that makes a defensive coordinator stare at a wall for a while.
The Case Keenum Game
Half the internet is treating one game like the moon landing, and I am not going to be the guy who stops them. Barstool Gambling pointed out that Keenum now has more touchdown passes than Drake Maye, which is a real sentence about a real NFL season. He also tied Ryan Fitzpatrick for the most franchises with a quarterback win, seven, the most journeyman record ever set.
The Giants got dragged into it too, since they had just traded for J.J. McCarthy. Watching a 38-year-old backup carve up a playoff defense right after you pay for a quarterback is a special kind of phone call, and NFL Memes found the perfect one.
Chicago Starts Arguing
Being a Bears fan means you cannot enjoy a win for 20 minutes before inventing a problem. Fans immediately started doing sports radio caller bits about trading Caleb, and Bill Zimmerman called the incoming QB2 controversy the most Bears thing ever, which I can’t argue with.
My favorite is the NFC North quarterback ranking with Keenum sitting third, ahead of Kyler Murray and Jordan Love. I have made worse rankings with more information, usually after a couple of beers and a fantasy draft I still regret.
Ben Johnson Gets Flowers
The smarter football people went straight for the headset. Mina Kimes called a sicko playcaller plus an experienced backup the ultimate upset formula, and Robert Mays reminded everyone that one bad day in a rainstorm did not mean Johnson forgot how to do this.
Dan Orlovsky kept his review to a salute, and Jacob Infante announced he would die on the Ben Johnson hill, which is a very Chicago place to die.
The Defense Ate Too
Lost in all the Keenum of it, Chicago’s defense forced three takeaways, including T.J. Edwards picking off Jalen Hurts on fourth down. Kirsten Tanis remembered everyone promising the Bears would regress on turnovers this year, and I respect a receipt delivered in real time.
Where this goes next is pretty obvious. Williams should be back in three or four weeks, Keenum goes back to holding a clipboard, and some Bears fan will still be on hold with the radio station asking about a trade. The Case Keenum game is staying in the grandkids rotation, though, right between the blizzard of whatever year and the time Dad fell off the roof hanging Christmas lights.
If your own team is already a lost cause, Two Weeks Into the Season, NFL Week 2 Memes Have Already Filed the Paperwork on My Team will make you feel less alone, and Football Memes Are the Only Coverage That Accurately Reports on How Fans Actually Feel is basically a mirror. Eagles fans can revisit happier times with Philadelphia Eagles Memes: Big Memes For a Big Win whenever they are ready.
Mike Hartley covers memes, football and the backup quarterbacks who remind every fan base that nobody knows anything.
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Michael Hartley, or just "Mike," is an editor and seasoned meme historian whose articles have traced the evolution of meme humor from early Impact-font classics to today’s TikTok sensations. With nearly a decade spent as senior editor at ViralHype and as a regular contributor to Cheezburger, Mike has dissected the rise of meme legends such as Bad Luck Brian, Success Kid, and Doge. When he's not hunting down meme gold for Thunder Dungeon, Mike teaches workshops on meme marketing and the psychology behind shareable content.
