NFL regular season final week chicago bears The battle for playoff seeding is ongoing.
That seemed impossible a year ago, when they suffered a 10-game losing streak heading into Week 18 against the Green Bay Packers.
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But this uneasiness left a good impression on fans. Caleb Williams said, “There’s more to come.” And he wasn’t wrong.
2025 was good for the Bears, now it’s time to carry that momentum into 2026.
Chicago won 14 games under Matt Eberflus, 15 if you include Thomas Brown’s interim tenure. Ben Johnson has a chance to win 12 regular season games in his first 17 games as coach. He has won 73% of the games played under the previous regime.
Caleb Williams is about to set a Bears record of his own. He started every game for the Bears in consecutive seasons dating back to the 1970s.
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One thing is clear, though. Johnson and Williams don’t care about records. They want to win. And sow seeds.
They have to beat the Lions to achieve that goal.
detroit lions
SB National Website: Detroit Pride
Record: 8-8
last week: Lost to Vikings 23-1
Game date, time, TV: Sunday, 3:25 p.m. CT, Fox
spread: Bear-3
Set a historical record: 105-81-5
Historical conference: In Week 17 of the 2012 season, the Bears, with a record of 9-6 and hoping to make the playoffs in Detroit, faced the Lions.
Chicago led 20-3 on a 60-yard pass from Jay Cutler to Earl Bennett, a 1-yard rush by Matt Forte and two field goals by Olindo Mare.
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In the final seconds of the first half, Detroit made it 20-10 when Matthew Stafford hit Kris Durham for a 25-yard score.
Marais added two field goals in the second half, while Stafford threw touchdown passes to Will Heller and Brian Robiske. But it wasn’t enough, as the Bears finished the postseason with a 10-6 record but bowed out of the postseason with a 26-24 win.
Lovie Smith was fired the next day.
Last meeting: Back in Week 2, the Lions vented their frustration on the Bears who are still finding their way under a new head coach.
Amon-Ra St. Brown scored three touchdowns and Jameson Williams scored one touchdown. Both ran for over 100 yards. Jared Goff threw for 5 touchdowns and 334 yards.
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The Lions defeated Chicago 52-21 and led 45-14 at one point.
Injury report: The Lions retained three players from Thursday’s practice and seven others were restricted
Did not participate
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DL Aleem McNeil (abdominal)
Limited participation
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T Taylor Decker (shoulder/disease)
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Ammon-La St. Brown (knee/ankle)
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LB Alex Anzalone (concussion)
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G Kayode Awosika (disease)
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S Thomas Harper (concussion)
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OL Christian Mahogany (disease)
offense: The Lions are third in points scored and sixth in yards allowed.
Detroit’s passing offense ranks fifth and its rushing attack ranks 15th.
Jared Goff (68.3% cmp/4,233 yards/33 TD/7 INT) has been solid for most of the season but threw two interceptions and three fumbles in one game.
The Lions still have plenty of weapons, including Amon-Ra St. Brown (106 carries/1,262 yards/11 TDs), Jameson Williams (59/1,043/7), Isaac Tesla (15/221/6) and Kalief Raymond (21/237/1).
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Remember, Jahmyr Gibbs (74/583/4) ranks second on the team in receptions. He’s also the leading backs (224 carries/1,143 yards/13 TDs). David Montgomery (150/674/8) is still Knuckles as Gibbs’ Sonic.
defense: Defensively, the Lions rank 23rd in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed.
Their pass defense ranks 19th, while their rushing defense ranks 16th.
Unfortunately for Detroit, their injury luck isn’t much different than last year. But there are several leaders who are healthy, such as DE Aiden Hutchinson (13.5 sk/13 TFL/33 QB hits/4 FF/3 PD/1 INT), LB Alex Anzalone (95 tkl/2.5 sk/9 PD/1 INT/6 QB hits) and LB Jack Campbell (165 tkl/9 TFL/5 sk/3 PD/2 FR) and Amik Robertson (51) tkl/2 TFL/12 PD/1 INT).
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Former Bear Al-Quadin Muhammad (11 sacks/9 TFL/20 QB hits) was much more efficient with the All-Pro players playing against him. Derrick Barnes (75 tkl/4 sk/1 INT/2 PD/6 TFL) and DJ Reed (34 tkl/2 INT/7 PD/1 FR) also played solid football for Detroit.
Key showdown: Obviously, this will be a different matchup than the first meeting. Both teams are vastly different than they were in Week 2.
Even though Detroit is coming off its worst loss of the season, they are still very dangerous. The defense will have to play better than it did last week to avoid another random scoring situation. Getting pressure on Jared Goff is key, and that has to come from the blitz.
Chicago’s defense will have to contain Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown better than they did in Week 2.
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Offensively, it’s like last week: all gas, no brakes. Establish your run early and get into a rhythm. They lost last week (and Week 2) because the offense took too long to get going.
If the Bears can keep the offense going, they can keep the Lions offense at bay.
key statistics
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Jared Goff was sacked zero times by the Bears in Week 2.
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The first game gave Goff a season-high touchdown pass and quarterback rating.
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The Lions are 7-1 when scoring more than 30 points. One of those losses was a 41-34 loss to the Rams.
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Detroit’s three-game losing streak is its longest since Campbell’s five-game losing streak in his second season with the Lions.
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Against Detroit this year, opposing quarterbacks have a 92.9 rating and are averaging 218.1 yards per game.
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The Lions have allowed four 300-yard games this season.
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The Lions are the only division rival Ben Johnson has yet to defeat.
Can the Bears avenge their Week 2 loss and beat the Lions to 12 wins? Can Caleb Williams reach the coveted 4,000 passing yard mark?
