Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson said his team will be “playing to win” during the regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Soldier Field.

The Bears and Lions kick off at 3:25 p.m. Sunday. Detroit is already eliminated from postseason contention and has nothing left to play for, but it sounds like the Lions are taking a similar approach.

Asked if his healthy starters will play in the game, Lions coach Dan Campbell told members of the media on Monday that “if they can play, we’re playing.”

The Bears and the Lions last squared off on Sept. 14 at Ford Field in Detroit. The Lions cruised to a 52-21 victory, which dropped the Bears to 0-2 on the season. Since then, the trajectories for both teams have flipped. The Bears have already won the NFC North division, while the Lions will miss the postseason.

For the Bears, a win on Sunday would lock up the No. 2 seed in the NFC. If the Bears lose and Philadelphia beats Washington, then the Eagles would jump ahead of the Bears, who would fall to the No. 3 seed.

Here’s what else Johnson had to say Monday following Sunday night’s 42-38 loss against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif.

1. The final play didn’t go to plan.

San Francisco 49ers players celebrate after Chicago Bears wide receiver Jahdae Walker failed to make a game-winning end zone catch during the final seconds of the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Johnson said there was “more chaos than you would like” on the final play of Sunday night’s game. The Bears had the ball at the 2-yard line with four seconds remaining on the clock. As Johnson noted Sunday, not everybody on the offense lined up in the right formation, which caused some confusion.

After the snap, quarterback Caleb Williams evaded one would-be tackler and scrambled to his left before zipping a pass that fell incomplete in the end zone.

“I think Caleb did what he could to make chicken salad out of it,” Johnson said.

Running back D’Andre Swift appeared to be open in the flat at the start of the play, but Williams had his eyes farther downfield. Johnson on Monday said, “I don’t see that as a potential option” when asked about Swift on that play.

Johnson pinned the blame on himself after the game Sunday, saying he needed to get the play call in quicker. With no timeouts, the Bears could only do so much about the pre-snap confusion.

“We really needed to line up in the right formation and get the execution of it down to have a chance, in my opinion,” Johnson said Monday.

2. Bears ‘go down swinging’ with hook-and-ladder play, and Johnson’s OK with that.

Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift (4) runs the ball before being brought down just short of the end zone in the final seconds of the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

The Bears ran a hook-and-ladder play moments earlier that resulted in precious time ticking off the clock. Williams completed a pass to tight end Colston Loveland, who pitched to running back D’Andre Swift. The 49ers defense did a good job staying home and Swift was tackled in bounds, short of the end zone. With the clock running, the Bears had to quickly get to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball. That left them with only enough time for one more play.

That hook-and-ladder was an easy play to criticize because it cost the Bears valuable time, but Johnson defended the play call Sunday night. Then again on Monday he indicated he liked the call.

“Obviously, I’m not happy with the result,” Johnson said. “Would have loved to score a touchdown, would’ve loved to get it out of bounds. And yet, I think the guys did a pretty good job with the execution of the play.”

Johnson’s offenses in Detroit, where he was the offensive coordinator, and in Chicago have done some unorthodox things at big moments over the years. He was happy with how his players worked on that play throughout the week. The Bears were hoping the 49ers would be in man-to-man coverage, but they were in zone and the cornerback did a good job closing off the outside.

“I’m not going to call a play that I don’t fully believe in that we’re not going to execute at the highest level,” Johnson said. “So we’ll always — if we go down, we’re going to go down swinging like that.”

More so than the final possession, the one sequence that Johnson most regretted in the game was his play calling on the Bears’ previous drive, when they settled for a field goal that gave them a three-point lead.

The Bears drove down to the 10-yard line with the clock ticking under seven minutes. The offense, which averaged five yards per carry throughout the game, did not run the ball again on the possession. Williams threw an incomplete pass on third down and the Bears settled for a 29-yard field goal from kicker Cairo Santos with just over five minutes to go.

“Out of that whole game, that field goal drive once we got in the red zone, I wasn’t very happy with how I called that,” Johnson said.

3. No updates on Luther Burden III or Rome Odunze, while Noah Sewell reportedly tore his Achilles.

Chicago Bears linebacker Noah Sewell is carted off the field after an injury in the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Dec. 28, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

The Bears typically fly back to Chicago directly after their away games, but they deviated from their routine this week. They stayed in the San Francisco area Sunday night and flew home first thing in the morning on Monday.

Given the travel logistics, Johnson said he had no new updates on the injury front. Rookie receiver Luther Burden III, who led the Bears with eight catches for 138 yards and a touchdown, appeared to injure his left leg on the final play of the game. In the locker room after the game, Burden indicated he was fine.

During the game, linebacker Noah Sewell was carted off the field. The NFL Network reported Monday that the belief is Sewell tore his Achilles. Sewell was expected to undergo further testing after returning to Chicago on Monday.

It remains unclear if second-year receiver Rome Odunze, who has missed four games with a foot injury, will be available for the Week 18 matchup with Detroit.

“He’s right on track with where we have him slotted,” Johnson said of Odunze. “We’ll kind of go through the course of the week here and see what his availability is in terms of practice.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/29/chicago-bears-detroit-lions-ben-johnson-week-18/