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History, motivation, and playoff positioning all converge Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, where the Chicago Bears host the Detroit Lions in a Week 18 matchup that carries far more weight for one side than the other.
For the Bears, this is about finishing the regular season the right way — and about history staring Caleb Williams square in the face.
With one game left on the schedule, Williams sits on the doorstep of a Bears passing record book that has remained largely untouched for decades. He needs just 109 passing yards to surpass Erik Kramer for the most passing yards in a single season in franchise history (3,838 in 1995), and 270 yards to become the first 4,000-yard passer the Bears have ever had. Williams also enters Week 18 with 25 passing touchdowns, four shy of Kramer’s single-season franchise record of 29.
The timing feels appropriate. Williams is coming off one of the most impressive performances of his young career, throwing for 330 yards in a Sunday night shootout against the San Francisco 49ers, a performance that again highlighted just how dramatically the Bears’ offensive ceiling has shifted with him under center. That outing pushed Williams to 3,730 passing yards — already the third-most in a single season in team history — with one more opportunity to climb to the top.
Tommy Gilligan-Imagn ImagesThere will be no easing into the postseason. Head coach Ben Johnson reiterated Wednesday that the Bears have no plans to rest starters, despite having already clinched the NFC North. Chicago is still chasing win No. 12, the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and the chance to set up a wild-card round rubber match with the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field next week.
“We’re playing to win this week,” Johnson said earlier in the week, quickly shutting down any speculation about a conservative approach.
There’s also an emotional layer to this matchup. The Bears haven’t forgotten the 52-21 beatdown they suffered at Ford Field in Week 2 — a loss that doubled as Johnson’s return to Detroit and one of Chicago’s most lopsided defeats of the season. Asked to reflect on that game, Johnson didn’t mince words.
“Being in that locker room and how that felt. You don’t always remember what exactly was said or anything like that,” Johnson said. “but you always remember how you felt in those moments. And I know our players do too. … It’s never a good taste when you get beat like that so handily..”
That loss, however, became a turning point. The Bears responded with four straight wins. A defeat in Baltimore was followed by five consecutive victories. A loss in Green Bay led to back-to-back wins. The Week 2 loss in Detroit marked the last time Chicago dropped consecutive games — a testament to the resiliency Johnson continues to reference.
David Banks-Imagn ImagesNow, the roles have flipped. What once looked like a potential winner-take-all Week 18 showdown instead features an NFC North champion Bears team hosting a Lions squad that will miss the postseason. Detroit enters at 8-8, a season undone in part by defensive injuries and offensive inconsistency.
That doesn’t mean the Lions are harmless. They rank eighth in the NFL in offensive EPA, and Jared Goff has been one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks, owning the third-best passer rating in football with 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Johnson, the former Detroit play caller, knows exactly what he’s facing.
“Offensively, their skill positions are absolutely loaded,” Johnson said. “Receiver-wise, they’re fast. The quarterback is playing at a super high level. You give him a clean pocket, and he can just pick you apart.”
Defensively, both teams have allowed 24.8 points per game, and Detroit’s front remains stout despite recent results. Johnson noted that while the Lions have surrendered points, the effort and physicality haven’t dipped.
There’s also no expectation of Detroit rolling over. Johnson pointed back to the Lions’ 2022 finale in Green Bay, when they were already eliminated and still knocked the Packers out of the playoffs.
“Coming from that place, I just know when you drop the ball down, they’re gonna come out, and they’re gonna play,” Johnson said.
© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesWilliams echoed that sentiment.
“They’re going to come out and fight, and we’ve got to hold our own and come out and fight and match that energy or more,” he said.
For the Bears, Sunday is about more than settling an old score. It’s about momentum. A 42-38 loss to San Francisco last week ended any hopes of the No. 1 seed, and Johnson made it clear he doesn’t want his team entering the postseason on a two-game skid.
“You want to have a little momentum behind you to get you going,” he said. “That’s part of the thought process.”
Back in Week 2, no one could have predicted this reality — the Bears as division champions, the Lions staying home, and Williams on the verge of rewriting franchise history. But as the Bears close the regular season at Soldier Field, the memory of that early-season embarrassment still lingers.
And so does the opportunity to respond — with a win, with history, and with the postseason just one week away.
The regular-season finale ? pic.twitter.com/9guMkAas92
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 2, 2026Game Info
Chicago Bears (2025: 11-5) vs Detroit Lions (2025: 8-8)
TV: FOX (Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi)Streaming: NFL+, Sunday Ticket (Out of Market)Radio: ESPN 1000 AM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie); LATINO MIX 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos)
Kickoff Time: 3:25 PM CTSite: Soldier Field, Chicago, ILReferee: Brad RogersOdds: Bears -3, O/U 50.5 (via BetMGM)
Bears Projected Starters
Lon Horwedel-Imagn ImagesOffense
QB – Caleb Williams RB – D’Andre Swift WR – DJ Moore, Luther Burden III TE – Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland OL – Ozzy Trapilo, Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson, Darnell WrightDefense
DL – Montez Sweat, Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter Sr., Austin Booker LB – Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, D’Marco Jackson CB – Jaylon Johnson, Nahshon Wright S – Kevin Byard III, Jaquan BriskerSpecialists
Cairo Santos (kicker), Tory Taylor (punter, holder), Scott Daly (long snapper), Devin Duvernay (kick and punt returner)Lions Projected Starters
Offense
QB – Jared Goff RB – Jahmyr Gibbs WR – Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa TE – Shane Zylstra OL – Taylor Decker, Christian Mahogany, Graham Glasgow, Tate Ratledge, Penei SewellDefense
DL – Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, DJ Reader, Al-Quadin Muhammad LB – Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes CB – Rock Ya-Sin, D.J. Reed, Amik Robertson S – Thomas Harper, Avonte MaddoxSpecialists
Jake Bates (kicker), Jack Fox (punter, holder), Hogan Hatten (long snapper), Jacob Saylors, Kalif Raymond (kick and punt returner) David Reginek-Imagn ImagesThree Bears
Every week, our Chicago Bears writers will give you their Bears player to watch in the matchup ahead. Three Bears is a staple of these previews, and with Bears coverage expanding this season, I thought it would be cool to involve all of the Bears thinkers in the exercise.
Patrick Flowers: Ben Johnson — Ben Johnson’s first season in Chicago will go down as a massive success, regardless of what happens from here. Still, I know the fiery side of him wants badly to close the regular season with a win against his old team after he was embarrassed by them in Week 2. Since that game, Johnson’s Bears have won 11 of 14, and will play in the playoffs next week. A Soldier Field get-back seems like something Johnson’s going to turn it up for this weekend.
Luis Medina: Luther Burden III — The rookie wideout has 617 receiving yards this season. That is an impressive number when you consider where he began this season. And with DJ Moore having 671 receiving yards on the year, there is a non-zero chance that Burden can climb into the top spot by the time the dust settles on Week 18. With that in mind, I am making the bold (?) prediction that Burden will have enough yards on Sunday to finish the year as Chicago’s leading receiver.
Matt Rooney: Caleb Williams — It probably won’t happen, but go try and break the 4,000-yard mark. He’ll likely end up topping Erik Kramer’s single-season record, but why not go for 4,000 as well? It doesn’t really matter in the long run, and if he doesn’t do it this year, he almost certainly will next season, but that would be a really fun cherry on top of about as good a first season with Ben Johnson as we could have hoped for.
BN Bears Podcast: Bears vs Lions Preview
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