Bears under the lights at Soldier Field is its own kind of football. Over the years, Monday nights in this building have meant a 2-degree slog, a halftime jersey retirement and, in January, a crowd loud enough to make the press box shake. Tonight the Bears host the 2-0 Eagles on NFL Monday Night Football with Case Keenum, 38, starting in place of the injured Caleb Williams and every reason to lean on that atmosphere. Philadelphia arrives with an offensive line still learning itself. The lights, the noise and the history may matter more than usual.
Eagles’ Shuffled Offensive Line Faces a Loud Night at Soldier Field
Start with the team on the other sideline. Three-time Pro Bowl guard Landon Dickerson is on injured reserve with a knee bone bruise and will miss at least four games. The Eagles’ answer was to slide two-time Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens to left guard and start second-year man Drew Kendall at center. It didn’t go smoothly. Jalen Hurts was sacked three times against Tennessee, Jurgens allowed a sack and three pressures at his new spot, and Kendall graded 21st among 33 qualified centers at Pro Football Focus.
That matters more at night in this building. A new center setting protections with a new guard beside him needs clean communication, and a loud Soldier Field can turn simple calls into guesswork.
Bears Under the Lights: A Monday Night History Built on Extremes
Chicago is 17-17 at home on Monday Night Football, though it has dropped the last three. The memorable ones were defined by the conditions. The first game in the renovated stadium, in 2003, was a Monday night against Green Bay. In 2008, it was 2 degrees at kickoff, the coldest game in Soldier Field history, when Robbie Gould’s overtime field goal beat the Packers 20-17. Five years later, at 8 degrees, backup quarterback Josh McCown accounted for five touchdowns in a 45-28 win over Dallas while Mike Ditka’s No. 89 was retired at halftime.
Philadelphia knows this stage, too. The Eagles’ last Monday night visit was the 2016 home opener, a 29-14 win over the Bears behind rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, who was just two games into his NFL career. Remember that name.
Tonight’s forecast will not make any headlines — temperatures in the upper 60s at kickoff cooling into the mid-50s with only a slow breeze off the lakefront. So it all falls on the crowd itself tonight to make things miserable for the visiting Eagles.
The Soldier Field Crowd Is Chicago’s Biggest Edge Tonight
The crowd has delivered before. In January, Chicago erased an 18-point deficit to beat Green Bay 31-27 on a Saturday night in front of 60,338 fans, and broadcaster Al Michaels said it was the first time in 31 games there that he felt the stadium shake. That energy is the best thing a backup quarterback can have on his side, and it only shows up if Chicago’s defense gets Philadelphia into third-and-long. The template is recent. A decade after Wentz beat the Bears here as an Eagles rookie, this defense sacked him three times last week as Minnesota’s quarterback.
Keenum is 0-2 against the Eagles as a starter, including a 38-7 loss in the NFC Championship Game with Minnesota. He also threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns against them in the 2019 opener with Washington, proof he can move the ball on this franchise. Tyson Bagent, cleared from concussion protocol, is set to back him up.
Bears under the lights has always been about more than one player. Tonight, it may come down to the crowd and if they can make the stadium shake again. Of course, the Bears will have to give them a reason to. Kickoff is 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN/ABC.
Bears Under the Lights: Soldier Field’s Monday Night Edge