Lions dominate early, but Bears rally fiercely. An interception seals their playoff fate, determining their next opponent.
Ben Johnson tried to get the last laugh on Dan Campbell, as the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions played one more time in the 2025 season.
Sunday's game determined who the Bears will play in the Wild Card round. A Bears win or a Philadelphia Eagles loss means that it will be the Green Bay Packers. A Chicago loss, however, leaves the door open for the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams to face the Bears in the first round.
The path to the NFC Championship was revealed on Saturday night, as the Seattle Seahawks beat the 49ers 13-3 for the No. 1 seed.
The first half of the game reminded Bears fans of what happened in Week 2. Detroit beat Chicago 52-21 in that meeting, and there was some deja vu in Week 18.
Jared Goff and the Lions put up 237 total yards of offense, with most of them coming through the air. Goff tallied 205 passing yards and one touchdown. Amon-Ra St. Brown had 110 receiving yards on nine receptions, as the Bears' secondary continued to get burned.
Detroit hit two field goals before scoring its first touchdown in the second quarter on a 15-yard Jahmyr Gibbs reception to go up 13-0 at halftime.
The bid for history may have to wait.
Caleb Williams finished with under 50 passing yards in the first two quarters. He needs to end with 270 passing yards to become the franchise's first 4,000-yard passer.
The offense wasn't on the field very much, with only three drives in the first half.
The Bears put their fans through another emotional rollercoaster in the second half. The Lions added another field goal to their tally to make it 16-0. Chicago finally got in the end zone in the fourth quarter after a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jahdae Walker.
The Bears got the two-point conversion and made it a one-score game.
The defense came up huge on the following drive, forcing a punt and giving the ball back to the offense.
Williams and the offense marched down the field in 12 plays and scored again, but needed another two-point conversion to tie the game. Both tight ends got involved, with Colston Loveland catching the touchdown pass and Cole Kmet scoring the two-point conversion.
The Lions looked to be threatening late in the game on the ensuing drive. Detroit got down to the Chicago 35-yard line before Goff took a considerable risk. He threw the ball into what looked like quadruple coverage on 3rd-and-20, and the pass was tipped into the air and intercepted by Kevin Byard.
The Bears didn't have the ball long, as they punted it back to the Lions after a three-and-out that was set up by an international grounding penalty by Williams.
Detroit made sure not to waste its opportunity this time. The Lions got into field goal range and won 19-16 after a make from Jake Bates as time expired.
Chicago fans quickly tuned into the Eagles-Commanders game with anticipation. Luckily for Chicago, the Commanders beat the Eagles 24-17, so the Bears are the No. 2 seed and will face the Packers in the Wild Card round.
However, losing to end the regular season is not what Bears fans had hoped. This team has a lot to work on as they look ahead to the playoffs.