CHICAGO -- First of all, Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you had a safe and restful holiday season as we gear up to do it all again now in 2026. And today is the final day of the NFL regular season.
Usually, by this time, those who cover or support the Chicago Bears are knee-deep in draft prospects and coaching searches. Instead, this year, the Bears are NFC North champions and looking ahead to next week's Wild Card Round.
What a difference a year -- and the correct coaching decisions -- can make.
Last Sunday night, the Bears played in an epic playoff preview in Santa Clara, going toe-to-toe with Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears lost a thriller on the doorstep of the goal line, just running out of time. But it served as another strong reminder that their head coach and quarterback pairing have achieved incredible things in Year 1.
The Bears came into today's finale against the Detroit Lions to lock up the #2 seed. A win (or a Philadelphia loss) would seal the deal. The #2 seed would schedule Round 3 against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field next weekend, whereas the #3 seed would have them host the Los Angeles Rams.
Fun times ahead.
The Bears sleep-walked through the first three quarters before turning it on again in the fourth quarter. But they couldn't capitalize on a final break and lost on the last snap to the Lions. Ben Johnson is now 0-2 against the Lions to open his career as a head coach.
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on X @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. The Lions lead at halftime 13-0 and it should've been 16-0 (at minimum), but Jake Bates sailed an attempt wide left just before halftime.
A thorough domination in the first half for the Lions. Some stats:
- 15-4 edge for Detroit on first downs
- 237-69 on total yards
- 6.1-3.4 in yards per play
- 19:12-10:48 in TOP
Unacceptable stuff from a team at home trying to lock up the #2 seed.
2. The pass rush is known to be an issue. I think the biggest concern is how bad they've been getting off the field if they can't turn the ball over anymore. Dennis Allen's trying a bunch of things but a little too min-max on the spectrum to really fool an offense in the last three games.
Also, the defensive rebuild project seems much bigger than anticipated -- pass rush needs at least 1 new DE, probably 1-2 new DTs, and also 1-2 linebackers.
Realistically, no one should be safe this offseason when molding this defense in the shape of Dennis Allen.
3. Colston Loveland's dropped two passes -- one before halftime on 4th down and one to open the second half to go 3 and out while down 13-0.
When it's not your day, it's really not your day.
At this point, I'm not sure the rest of these reps down what should be 20-0 soon will be valuable. Just get the starters out and healthy and rest them for next week.
4. The Bears finally got a stop on the next possession when Gervon Dexter cleaned up a sack that Austin Booker started. Dexter's another guy whose stats might read better than the down-to-down impact he provides. I wouldn't mind a move to DE for him to see what he can do there.
One thing that bothered me on that drive was Jaylon Johnson's effort on Jahmyr Gibbs' drive-opening run. Didn't even pretend to try to tackle.
You can't have that from your #1 corner. I get wanting to be healthy for the playoffs, but if you're on the field... play football.
5. The Bears' offensive game plan seems very vanilla through three quarters. A lot of static shotgun formations -- which is weird for a typical Ben Johnson offense. I wonder if they're wanting to put that on tape for practice reasons? Maybe the real game plan is being concealed for next week?
...That said, the Bears opened the fourth quarter and scored quickly, on a nice post route by Jahdae Walker for a touchdown to get it to 16-8 after the two-point conversion.
6. Dan Campbell is a great CEO head coach but man, he has some work to do on the play-calling side. The 3rd and 1 trick play to have David Montgomery throw the ball got swallowed up for a big loss, leading to a punt. This was as they were cruising with ease otherwise.
The Lions have a hell of a roster, but they have to revamp their offensive coaching side in the offseason.
7. Colston Loveland is George Kittle. Seriously. He absolutely took over on that drive -- both with key blocks on Luther Burden's screen and several clutch catches to convert the touchdown. And then Cole Kmet with an insane catch -- holding on after a huge hit -- to tie the game at 16.
8. Man, this Bears team. An intentional grounding on Jared Goff -- what seemed like a miscommunication -- set up 3rd and 20 near field goal range near the two-minute warning. And then Goff fired into major coverage and Brisker tipped it -- with Byard picking it off.
Huge, right?
But the Bears gave it right back with a bad intentional grounding on Caleb Williams. The Bears decided to punt on 4th and 5. Given the defense's issues today, not sure it was the right decision, but I get it from a field position perspective. I would've gone for it, though.
9. Amon-Ra St. Brown with an all-time revenge game, going 11 for 139, including setting up the game-winning field position for Jake Bates' game winner. Lions win 19-16 to put the Bears at 11-6.
A tough result after a nice comeback. I think the Bears should be concerned going into next week with how their defense played. Their lack of speed showed up in man coverage all game -- with Jaylon Johnson getting burned repeatedly. The linebackers are also not playing well. It's rough all around.
With the kinds of offenses that exist in the NFC, it's tough sledding.
10. The Bears' issue is their offense is very explosive, but not yet consistent enough down-to-down. So when teams beat them up in TOP, it's very difficult for them to get going. That's why holding Detroit to only 19 points is still a tough score for Chicago to overcome.
That's shown up the last three weeks.
11. The Commanders beat Philly, so the Bears locked up the 2 seed and will host the Packers next weekend at Soldier Field. Let the rivalry nonsense commence!
12. Thank you all for following along for yet another regular season. For the first time in a while, we get a playoff game to cover next week. I think the Packers are a very bad matchup for Chicago the way they're built right now, and it's tough that's how the playoffs open up. Let's see what happens. It's nice to be relevant in Year 1, though.
Early prediction: Packers 24, Bears 20.
