Sports
Bears Beat Eagles 27-7, and Our Tailgate Got Loud
Case Keenum, a hungry Bears defense and a Monday night rout at Soldier Field, plus every Week 3 score, all eight division tables and a team picker so you can find your squad.
Every autumn I promise my group chat I will watch football like a calm, reasonable adult. Every autumn I am standing on a folding chair by 7 p.m. Monday, yelling at a shovel pass. Some traditions need no wine list.
Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season is in the books, and last night's Monday Night Football was a good one to end on. Here is the whole weekend, the Bears first, then every score, then the standings, then a way to find your own team.
Bears 27, Eagles 7: the quarterback nobody had on the poster
The Chicago Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-7 at Soldier Field on Monday, Sept. 28, and bounced back from a 9-3 loss to Minnesota to sit at 2-1. The Bears' own recap and Reuters have the same final.
The star was Case Keenum, 38 years old, starting in place of Caleb Williams and playing like he had been on the depth chart in permanent marker. He went 24 of 34 for 247 yards and two touchdowns, then ran one in from a yard out. ESPN counted 1,009 days since his last regular-season start. NFL.com notes he is now the oldest player in Bears history to score a rushing touchdown.
The plays worth a rewind:
- The opening drive. Eleven plays, 66 yards, capped by an 8-yard touchdown flip to Luther Burden III, who got stopped short, kept his legs churning and got a friendly push from the pile into the end zone.
- The 41-yard strike to Kalif Raymond in the third quarter, part of his six catches for 90 yards, which made it 20-7.
- Dillon Thieneman's end-zone interception near the end of the first half, then a 29-yard Cairo Santos field goal to make it 10-0.
- T.J. Edwards' fourth-and-5 interception late in the third. The defense forced three straight three-and-outs to open the second half and gave up just 62 yards after halftime.
- The sneak. Keenum drew a defensive tackle offside on fourth-and-2, and the drive ended with his own 1-yard touchdown run. Coach Ben Johnson called it "the old sucker sneak," which is also my usual order at a tailgate.
What it means
Chicago is 2-1 and tied with Detroit at the top of the chasing pack in the NFC North, one game behind unbeaten Minnesota. The Bears host the New York Jets next Sunday at Soldier Field. Philadelphia is 2-1 too, and will be fine, but Monday was not the Eagles' finest tape.
Wine people talk about a bottle that had no business being that good. That was Keenum on Monday: the back-of-the-cellar pull nobody planned to open until the good stuff ran out, tasting like a reserve.
Every Week 3 final
Scores from ESPN's Week 3 scoreboard. Winners listed first.
| Game | Final | The take |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Sept. 24 | ||
| Falcons at Packers | ATL 35, GB 14 | Bijan Robinson ran for 194 yards and Drake London caught for 194. Matching set, very stylish. |
| Sun, Sept. 27 | ||
| Chargers at Bills | BUF 24, LAC 16 | Buffalo won despite five turnovers. That is the football version of forgetting the cooler and still having a great tailgate. |
| Panthers at Browns | CLE 21, CAR 18 | Deshaun Watson sparked a late rally. Harold Fannin Jr. caught two touchdowns. |
| Jets at Lions | DET 31, NYJ 24 | Jahmyr Gibbs scored three times, the last with 2:25 left. Geno Smith threw for 321 in a fun shootout. |
| Texans at Colts | IND 19, HOU 17 | A Shrader field goal with 16 seconds left ended Indy's nine-game skid. |
| Chiefs at Dolphins | KC 24, MIA 10 | Mahomes went 20-for-24. Kenneth Walker III had two scores. The Chiefs are 3-0. |
| Titans at Giants | NYG 12, TEN 7 | A 12-7 game, the plain grilled cheese of football. Perfectly fine. |
| Bengals at Steelers | PIT 30, CIN 27 | Aaron Rodgers outdueled Joe Burrow (three touchdown passes each). A late Boswell kick settled it. |
| Seahawks at Commanders | WSH 33, SEA 31 | Washington snapped Seattle's 12-game winning streak. Somebody frame that headline. |
| Patriots at Jaguars | JAX 35, NE 6 | Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes. Jacksonville was happy to get its Sunday back. |
| Cardinals at 49ers | SF 36, ARI 30 | Brock Purdy threw four touchdown passes. Jacoby Brissett completed 38 in a game with plenty of yardage. |
| Vikings at Buccaneers | MIN 23, TB 16 | Minnesota is 3-0 and the only unbeaten team in the NFC North. |
| Ravens vs. Cowboys (Rio de Janeiro) | BAL 34, DAL 31 | Lamar Jackson and a smart timeout set up a 56-yard Loop field goal. Best road trip on the schedule. |
| Raiders at Saints | LV 35, NO 27 | Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and Las Vegas is 3-0, after winning three games all of last season. |
| Rams at Broncos (Sunday night) | DEN 30, LAR 26 | Bo Nix shook off a slow start. Matthew Stafford still threw for 390. |
| Mon, Sept. 28 | ||
| Eagles at Bears | CHI 27, PHI 7 | Keenum, Thieneman, Edwards and a whole lot of Soldier Field noise. |
The unbeaten club after three weeks: Buffalo, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minnesota and San Francisco, all 3-0. Florida's NFL teams went 1-2 on the weekend: Jacksonville cruised, while Miami and Tampa Bay are still hunting their first wins. Gulf breeze, fresh week.
The standings, division by division
Records and points from ESPN's NFL standings, as of Tuesday, Sept. 29, after all 16 Week 3 games. Teams are listed in ESPN's order, which uses the league's tiebreakers. The Bears row is highlighted, because I said so.
American Football Conference
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 3-0 | 1.000 | 101 | 78 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 1-2 | .333 | 64 | 61 | L2 |
| New England Patriots | 1-2 | .333 | 36 | 51 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 0-3 | .000 | 36 | 86 | L3 |
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2-1 | .667 | 53 | 60 | W1 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2-1 | .667 | 92 | 78 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 2-1 | .667 | 54 | 71 | W2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 2-1 | .667 | 80 | 63 | L1 |
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-1 | .667 | 82 | 36 | W1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 1-2 | .333 | 72 | 91 | W1 |
| Tennessee Titans | 0-3 | .000 | 37 | 59 | L3 |
| Houston Texans | 0-3 | .000 | 54 | 75 | L3 |
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3-0 | 1.000 | 88 | 50 | W3 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 3-0 | 1.000 | 88 | 54 | W3 |
| Denver Broncos | 2-1 | .667 | 60 | 70 | W2 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 0-3 | .000 | 44 | 76 | L3 |
National Football Conference
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2-1 | .667 | 55 | 69 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 2-1 | .667 | 46 | 55 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 1-2 | .333 | 88 | 82 | L1 |
| Washington Commanders | 1-2 | .333 | 75 | 92 | W1 |
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | 3-0 | 1.000 | 71 | 41 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 2-1 | .667 | 93 | 95 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 2-1 | .667 | 89 | 53 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 1-2 | .333 | 56 | 91 | L1 |
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Panthers | 1-2 | .333 | 89 | 83 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1-2 | .333 | 81 | 83 | L1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 1-2 | .333 | 51 | 68 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-3 | .000 | 62 | 79 | L3 |
| Team | Record | Pct | PF | PA | Strk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | 3-0 | 1.000 | 98 | 50 | W3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 2-1 | .667 | 75 | 50 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 1-2 | .333 | 61 | 63 | L1 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 1-2 | .333 | 63 | 81 | L2 |
Who's your team?
Find your squad in the picker below and it will show the record from the tables above, plus a one-liner. It remembers your pick on this device. If you'd like, your pick also goes in the Manatee Post reader vote; it's just the team name, nothing else. No JavaScript? The tables above have everything.
Who’s your team?
Pick your team and we’ll pull up its record and a one-liner. Your choice is remembered on this device.
One vote per device, sent as just the team name. No names, no emails, no fake tallies: the results are real, and we’ll share them next week.
Pour something you like, keep the fridge stocked and pick a chair with a good view of the kitchen. Bears fans, enjoy the week. Everyone else, I'll see you Sunday.
— Kevin
