Happy game day, Bears fans! We made it to the first Sunday of the 2026 calendar year. Chicago’s football team does not kick off until 3:25 p.m. CT, which gives me some time to do some stuff around the house before the regular-season finale. Hopefully, you will take advantage of the time to get everything done so you can enjoy the game in peace.
The vibes are high around Halas Hall as the Bears enter Week 18 looking to lock in their place as the No. 2 seed:And the Beary goes to… ? pic.twitter.com/ZmQBpV2c1T
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I love how safety Kevin Byard III is an extension of Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson. Byard relaying a story (via the Trib) of how the first-year Bears head coach kept cool after an 0-2 start is eye-opening:“There’s TVs around this building that be on these networks,” Byard said of the early critics, the doubters. “The main thing he (Johnson) just preached to us is we recognize outside of the building, everybody thinks the sky is falling, but we’re going to continue to trust the process.
“And I think that was the thing that spoke heavy to all of us. … When you lose in the NFL usually, that week the building is kind of tense. Nobody likes losing, it’s not a good feeling. But he went up there saying, ‘Hey, we’re good. We’re going to continue to trust the process. We’re going to turn this thing around. We’re still a good team.’ He basically just continued to instill that belief in us.”
While Kevin Byard is on our mind, I’m still here banging the drum for an extension. It doesn’t have to be a bank-breaker or a long-term deal that handcuffs a ton of cap space. Ultimately, I think there is a reasonable deal that can get done to keep a captain, leader, and quality ballplayer with the team for another year or two. Patrick Finley (Sun-Times) writes about how the Bears have a chance to prove how different things are now compared to when the two teams squared off in week two. Ben Johnson watches a play against Lions at Ford Field in Detroit. | © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images I’m digging the angle from which Marquee’s Nicholas Moreano is coming from by explaining why Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson should prioritize Caleb Williams being the franchise’s first 4,000-yard quarterback in the season finale. Yours truly is already on the record predicting that rookie Luther Burden III is going to finish the year as Chicago’s leading receiver. But I am also down to go on the record to say that Williams will finish with at least 271 passing yards today, which would make him the team’s first 4,000-yard passer — and its single-season passing leader. Let’s make history today, gents!WEEK 18 PREVIEW — CHICAGO BEARS VS. DETROIT LIONS
By virtue of their win against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night, the Seattle Seahawks clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The road to the Super Bowl runs through Seattle. This means the Bears’ opponent on wild-card weekend will be the Green Bay Packers (with a Chicago win or Philadelphia loss on Sunday) or the 49ers (if the Beaars lose, Eagles win, and the Los Angeles Rams win on Sunday). The combinatio of a Rams loss, Bears loss, and Eagles win would set up a Bears-Rams matchup at Soldier Field next week. We’ll have a playoff matchup post later today. For more clarity on the topic, please consult the graphic below:Final NFC seeding scenarios via @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/8HoX6lxrfn
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 4, 2026 The NFC South is always going to be quirky. Tampa Bay taking down Carolina on Saturday means the winner of the Saints-Falcons game will determine whehter the Bucs or Panthers will go to the playoffs. No matter what happens, an 8-9 team is going to be hosting a home playoff game. It makes me wonder if the Lions’ proposal from last offseason to seed playoff qualifiers by record (to avoid situations like a sub-.500 team hosting a playoff game) will gain more steam this offseason. Add it to the list of storylines we’ll be following in 2026. It’s never good when there is a pool report with a referee after a game:Official pool report via @gregauman on two critical plays in #Panthers loss to #Bucs.In part, regarding the call on the backward pass to Rico Dowdle … “Because of the erroneous whistle, the Panthers could have had a choice to replay the down.” pic.twitter.com/MORHmA3IPC
— Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05) January 4, 2026 It would be criminal if any of the officials involved in Saturday’s Panthers-Bucs game made it onto a playoff officiating crew. A weird fact from The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain, who points out that the Bears haven’t won a season-finale at Soldier Field since 2007. To be fair, they’ve played just four such games since 2008, but lost them all. I hate how much I remember the Chris Conte Game in 2023, backing into the playoffs despite losing to the Packers in Week 17 of the 2020 season, and The Tank Bowl at the end of the 2022 campaign. But then we’ve got the 2015 finale, which was so forgettable that I needed the Pro Football Reference box score to jog my memory. It sounds like the end is near for Matt Eberflus. (Pro Football Talk) Eberflus’ ouster in Dallas could open the door for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to empty the bag and hire free-agent-to-be Brian Flores to coach their defense. If that is how the cookie crumbles, Jones turning around and making Flores the NFL’s highest-paid defensive coordinator and getting him out of the NFC North would be a wonderful development. Frankly, I’m kinda rooting for it. The NFL is bringing out special balls today:A look at the ball teams will use today in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary year. America 250 is also featured on stencils on sidelines. pic.twitter.com/lAlCMtUe0q
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) January 4, 2026MORE BEARS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad-Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
What About Ranger Suarez for the Cubs? t.co/4PyJZEwxGN pic.twitter.com/nKNaz8gnGj
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 2, 2026WATCH: Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu Nails Halfcourt Buzzer Beater t.co/3rCekrMhEh
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