The Chicago Bears won their first division title in seven years last season and only their second in 15 years. It was a crowning moment for new head coach Ben Johnson, who took a team that went 5-12 the previous year and turned it into a contender almost overnight. Not many coaches can pull off something like that. Now comes the hard part. Doing it again. Can the Bears defend their crown despite losing several of the players who made it happen the first time, departing via free agency or trade?
NFL insider Albert Breer doesn’t think so. He believes the division will pass to one of the Bears’ rivals. Will it be the hated Green Bay Packers, who hope to get two critical pieces in Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft back? No. Will it be the Minnesota Vikings, who signed Kyler Murray in free agency to solve their quarterback problems? Not them either. Breer believes it will be the Detroit Lions reasserting their control of the division after a down season in 2025, with help from one of Johnson’s best friends.
You can bet Ben Johnson won’t like that idea.
James, that division remains perhaps the NFL’s most wide open from year to year and I could see any of the four winning it. The one team that would surprise most, Minnesota, won 14 games in 2024. But if I had to pick now, I might actually go with the Lions.
The first reason is the schedule. They could, maybe should, go into their Week 6 bye at 4–1, and don’t have any sort of murderous stretch after that to sink their momentum.
The second reason is because so many things went wrong last year that I think will correct themselves. With Cade Mays and Blake Miller coming in, and Tate Ratledge in his second year, there’s promise that the line that set the tone for Detroit for its rise to prominence will bounce back. New offensive coordinator Drew Petzing will bring back the creativity the team missed last year with Ben Johnson gone. And at some point, the defense has to stay healthy.
So give me Detroit at this early juncture, while I reserve the right to change my mind.
Johnson still has a monkey to get off his back.
Many view him as primarily responsible for elevating Detroit to the status of a true contender. Their significant regression after he left serves as evidence. However, it came with a price. The Lions beat the Bears in both meetings last season, including a 52-21 humiliation at Ford Field. You can bet money Johnson hasn’t forgotten this. He hates to lose regardless, but losing to his former team twice must be eating at him. Now you throw something like this into the mix and it’s liable to drive him insane.
The facts are the facts. Detroit didn’t magically stop being a talented team. Their GM, Brad Holmes, has loaded that roster with tons of good players. They still have a capable quarterback. The big question was whether the defense could stay healthy and whether the team could replace left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow. Breer seems confident that both issues will be resolved. Either way, the Lions will be a major obstacle to the Bears’ 2026 goals. Johnson knows that.
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It seems fitting that the two teams won’t meet for months.
Their first showdown will be on Thanksgiving in November. Those matchups tend to get crazy. After that, they’ll reconvene in the second-to-last week of the season at Soldier Field in the cold for what could be a decisive showdown for the division. Ben Johnson has that much time to prepare his players. Detroit has every reason to feel confident. They have beaten the Bears in seven of their last eight meetings, including the last four in a row. They’ll go into those games fully believing the trend will continue.
Johnson isn’t afraid of challenges. He knew overcoming the Lions would be one of the biggest obstacles when he took over the Bears. The goal hasn’t changed. Thankfully, the team seems a little better equipped this coming season. They’re younger, faster, and more experienced in big games. If Detroit truly is the final boss this year, so be it. Johnson isn’t naive. He understands that if the Bears wish to be champions, they’ll have to beat good teams. The Lions are one of them.
