Getty
Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.
The Detroit Lions (8-8) have no practical incentive to go all-out against the Chicago Bears (11-5) at Soldier Field in the final regular season game for both teams, but it sounds like they’re going to regardless.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell spoke with media members on Monday, December 29 and sent a six-word message on his intentions with regards to the Week 18 showdown against the Bears and first-year head coach Ben Johnson — the former offensive coordinator in Detroit (2022-24) and Campbell’s protégé.
“If they can play,” Campbell said of his active roster members,”we’re playing.”
Lions Take Hard Line on Playing to Win in Final Game of Season
GettyDetroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
The strategy of trotting out every healthy starter and reserve for a game with no practical consequences — save for a win potentially dropping Detroit down further in the 2026 NFL draft order, which would be a bad thing — runs counter to what franchises like the Kansas City Chiefs (6-10) are doing down the stretch.
Head coach Andy Reid has sidelined several of his team’s top players who are battling even mild injuries, preserving their health and by extension their value, while giving reserves chances to prove themselves and protecting what could be a top-10 pick next April.
But the situations are different in meaningful ways. Patrick Mahomes went down for the season in Week 15 during a loss that ended the Chiefs’ playoff chances and made winning far less likely than it has been for the Lions and healthy quarterback Jared Goff.
Kansas City has also won three Super Bowls in the past six seasons, while the Lions have captured two division crowns over the last two years, earned a spot in the NFC title game two postseasons back and hit the playoffs in 2024 as the No. 1 seed before losing to the Washington Commanders at home in the Divisional Round.
The Chiefs are readying for a possible rebuild in 2026, with Mahomes’ return timeline as uncertain as Travis Kelce’s retirement plans.
Meanwhile, Campbell clearly wants the Lions to remain hungry in the hopes that their regression this season was a blip — perhaps partly due to an above-average number of key injuries on the defense — in what will otherwise remain the continued ascension of the long-beleaguered franchise.
Ben Johnson, Dan Campbell Rivalry Headed for Chapter 2
GettyChicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson.
There is also the Johnson element of the equation to consider.
Chicago has something to play for — the No. 2 seed, which a win over the Lions on January 4 will secure. But Detroit also walloped the Bears in Week 2, defeating Chicago by 31 points and dropping them to 0-2 on the year.
The relationship between Campbell and Johnson appears as good as it ever was, but both men are highly competitive, and their Week 18 matchup might have been a slugfest even if each team came into the contest at 1-15.
That said, Campbell was complimentary of how far the Bears have come in the nearly four months since the teams initially met at Ford Field in mid-September.
“Ben’s done a good job. The system is in,” Campbell said. “They found a run game. Play-action pass, Caleb [Williams] is playing really well. O-line is playing really well. … They’re playing at a high level. Much more polished.”
The Bears are 2.5-point favorites against the Lions as of Monday night, per DraftKings Sportsbook. A Chicago victory will cement the Philadelphia Eagles as the NFC’s No. 3 seed and set up a rubber match between the Bears and the No. 7-seeded Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on Super Wildcard Weekend.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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