After a disappointing showing last week, both the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears enter this weekend’s game with identical 0-1 division records. Both teams feel the pressure to avoid an ugly 0-2 start in the highly competitive NFC North.
Previewing the Detroit Lions v. Chicago Bears NFC North Division Smack Down
Sunday’s contest promises to be a hard-hitting showdown with one team emerging victorious to claim a one game lead.
Detroit Getting Back To Basics
Acknowledging the NFL’s toughest division, Dan Campbell predicted early in the preseason that “Just to get through our division is going to be brutal. But it’s the right kind of brutal.”
Attributing last week’s sloppy performance to poor communication and missed assignments, Campbell stated the mistakes made were a learning experience . “Like I told the team, these are so correctable. Everything that showed up is so correctable, and we’ll hit head on.” He stressed that getting back to fundamentals in practice this week will be critical to overcoming those errors.
Campbell knows one of the keys will be correcting the offensive line issues that resulted in coverage blunders and missed tackles. “Oh yeah, definitely. But we will, I mean, we will. We’re going to be out there today, man, we’re going to address it head on. We talked about it in walkthrough. The focus, the footwork, the little things. And we’re going to make sure we establish that today, day one, in practice and that we’re on point with our footwork, that placement, all the little things. We’re ID’d correctly, we’re coming off the ball. Or if not, we’ll do it again and we’ll get it right, we’ll get it right, we’ll get it right. And we are going to be much better. We will be much better.”
Nonetheless, the Lions have their work cut out for them Sunday against a newly restructured Bears team.
Chicago, Not the Same Team
Last year, the Chicago Bears were the only NFC North team with a losing record. But the division’s perennial basement dweller over the past five years is looking to rebound under new head coach Ben Johnson . Despite a disastrous fourth quarter collapse against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, Chicago intends to prove Johnson’s offseason changes transformed the team.
Spearheading several offseason acquisitions, Johnson was determined to set up second-year quarterback Caleb Williams for success. Williams’s rookie season was brutal. Although his official stat line of 3,551 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions was impressive, Williams succumbed to a league-leading 68 sacks last year.
To avoid his franchise quarterback suffering the same fate this season, Johnson completely overhauled the Chicago offensive line. He acquired Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney and Los Angeles Rams guard Jonah Jackson through trades. Thuney was given an 80.0 PFF grade last year. Then, in one of the biggest free agency moves this year, Johnson signed Atlanta Falcons free agent center Drew Dalman to a three-year $42 million contract. A stronger offensive line can make a huge difference for the young quarterback and Detroit’s pass rush will have to step up.
Boosting Chicago’s Offensive Weapons
Next, Johnson prioritized the offense in the draft and selected talented Michigan tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick. Graded by NFL analyst Lance Zierlein as an “elite year-one starter,” Loveland has been compared favorably to Sam La Porta. In the second round, Johnson drafted Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III with the 39th overall pick. Burden joins veteran talent D.J. Moore who recorded the 7th most receiving yards last year, and promising second-year receiver Rome Odunze .
Last week, after Williams’ impressive opening drive where he completed six of six attempts for 51 yards and scored with a nine-yard rushing touchdown, he struggled throughout the second half. He finished 21/35 for 210 yards and one touchdown.
With six catches for 37 yards and a touchdown, Odunze was the number one receiver against the Vikings. Moore had three catches for 68 yards and seven-year NFL veteran Olamide Zaccheaus had four receptions for 42 yards. Both rookies saw only limited action with Loveland making two catches for 12 yards and Burden recording one reception for minus three yards. Veteran tight end Cole Kmet had one reception for 31 yards.
Williams’ inconsistency is still an issue for the Bears. Detroit’s defense can limit his preferred receiving options and force him to rely more heavily on the inexperienced rookies.
Chicago’s Defensive Weapons
The Bears’ defense could pose a problem for the Lions on Sunday. Chicago’s defense was one of the better team defenses a year ago and is loaded with talented players. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson was given the Bears franchise tag in 2024 after recording 36 tackles, four interceptions, 10 pass breakups, and one forced fumble in 14 games in 2023. The two-time Pro Bowl candidate (2024-2025) recorded 53 tackles, eight pass defenses, two interceptions and one forced fumble last season. Like Lions’ CB Terrion Arnold, Johnson has been dealing with groin injuries. However, he is expected to play in Week 2.
Asked about the Bears ailing defense without three of their most talented defenders in Week 1, Campbell responded “They played a lot of nickel obviously without (DB Kyler) Gordon, and to your point, without (LB T.J.) Edwards. And then Jaylon (Johnson) wasn’t out there. Those are three really good players for them, and I think they’ll all be back. I think at least two of them will be back. So, getting any two of those three is going to significantly raise the bar and help those guys a lot. Just the type of player and the communication. But what you see is a sound defense that plays hard. And if they get those pieces back, it just gives them more flexibility to do more things.”
DL Montez Sweat is one of seven NFL defenders with at least 5.0 sacks in each of the last five seasons. Selected to the Pro Bowl for the Bears in 2023, PFF.com gave Sweat an overall grade of 64.0. The Lions must improve on last week’s performance if they hope to counter the Bears’ defense.
Chicago’s Special Teams
Finally, Chicago’s special teams could be an area of weakness that the Lions could capitalize on. 11-year NFL veteran field goal kicker Cairo Santos had a rare miss on a 50-yard kick against the Vikings in week 1. Last year, Santos made 21 of 24 kicks with a 54-yarder as his longest. Three of Santos’ kicks were blocked.
It’s early in the season and no one on the Lions’ team is pushing the panic button after one loss. However, recording a critical division win against the Bears will go a long way towards furthering the Lions’ goal of entering the playoffs as the NFC North Champions.
Main Image: Junfu Han – Imagn Images
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