That’s now how it was supposed to go. A slow start and a largely impotent offense doomed the Bears to a 19-16 loss to the Lions on a last-second field goal.
Ben Johnson has been one of the most aggressive head coaches in the NFL in 2025 in terms of going for it on 4th down, and for good reason. His Chicago Bears feature the league's second-best rushing offense, and his offensive line is first and sixth in pass block and run block win rates per ESPN.
Don't let the final score of this Chicago Bears-Detroit Lions game fool you. That was a humiliating Week 18 loss for the Bears, and there's no excuse for it.
Rule changes have made passing numbers easier to compile in the modern era, and the game's top quarterbacks have taken full advantage. While the heaviest hitters are represented here, some storied postseasons by slightly lesser-celebrated QBs remain entrenched in playoff annals as well.
The Chicago Bears walked into Week 18 claiming they were playing to win. Head Coach Ben Johnson swore up and down that despite having the playoffs locked up, they weren’t taking their foot off the gas against his former squad, the Detroit Lions.
The Chicago Bears had little to play for in Week 18 other than a small seeding advantage but the team was fully committed to getting things back on track and build some kind of momentum after how things went in Week 17.
It was a bad news, um, good news kind of Sunday for the Chicago Bears. Ending the regular season with back-to-back final-play defeats isn't a good thing, but for the Bears Week 18 worked out okay after all.
For many years, the Chicago Bears have stood on the receiving end of a not-so-fun piece of sports trivia: they are the only NFL franchise never to see a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
For years, Thanksgiving belonged to the NFL, but Christmas belonged to the NBA. Occasionally, an NFL game would fall on Christmas, but it was anomalous, even avoided if possible.
While the Bears are not treating the regular season finale as an exhibition game like Green Bay did, they took the safe route with injured players. Wide receiver Rome Odunze and left tackle Ozzy Trapilo are inactive for the game with Detroit.
While the Bears spent the season taking away the football on defense, it's at least as important how they rarely turn over the football. Playing quarterback isn't all about touchdown passes.
The Chicago Bears are set to finish the regular season against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on Sunday. With a win, the Bears will clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC and would host the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round.
This is the time of year when football talk gets loud, and opinions get even louder. Everyone has a quarterback they trust when the games stop being about style points and start being about survival.
The Chicago Bears are in the best position that they have been in for quite some time. Under new head coach Ben Johnson, the Bears look to be a legitimate contender in the NFC heading into the playoffs.
The Chicago Bears announced Saturday that they’ve elevated TE Nikola Kalinic and LB Ty Summers to their active roster for Sunday’s game against the Lions.