Bears HC Ben Johnson says what everyone would expect when asked the question everyone seems to be asking ahead of Week 18
The Chicago Bears are playing to win on Sunday.
The Chicago Bears lost out on the opportunity to chase the No. 1 seed in the NFC with Sunday night’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
And so, the Bears instead will be competing for the No. 2 or 3 seed in Week 18 when the team hosts the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field to conclude the regular season.
Coming off a loss and looking to build back momentum for the playoffs, it’s already an easy decision for the Bears, plus you factor in the possibility of hosting at least two playoff games as the No. 2 seed, it it becomes a no-brainer answer when Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked the question every NFL coach is being asked this week.
Bears and Lions share same approach for Week 18 mentality, but for different reasons
“Yeah, we’re playing to win this week,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson told reporters during his Monday press conference ahead of Week 18.
I’m not sure it was any question. If you know Ben Johnson and were he comes from in his coaching tree, you should’ve known this was always the expectation for Week 18. Look no further than the answer his former colleague gave reporters going into this matchup.
“You can always find a lot out with one to go,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said on Monday. “And, no, we’re not playing for the playoffs, but there’s still things we can find out, and I expect the guys that we have here to give it what they’ve got one more time. That’s the expectation.”
So, there you have it. The Bears and Lions will be going at it on Sunday with all of the healthy starters expected to play. The last time these two teams faced off came in Week 2, when the Lions dominated the Bears with a final score of 52-21.
A lot has clearly changed for both teams after the Bears locked up the NFC North title while the Lions are set go home after Sunday’s game. Yet, the Bears should expect a dog-fight because Campbell is going to give Johnson one last battle before the postseason.
Final push for 4,000 yards is on for QB Caleb Williams
As for some personal incentive to play in Week 18, quarterback Caleb Williams is knocking on the door of the Bears single-season passing yards record, set by Erik Kramer in 1995 with 3,838 passing yards. Entering Week 18, Williams has 3,730 passing yards.
That means Williams only needs 109 passing yards to break the record, and 270 passing yards to become the first Bears quarterback to have 4,000 passing yards in a single season.
“[Being] the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history, that’s a goal of mine,” Williams said over the summer. “Seventy percent completion, that helps the team, keeps [the offense] on the field, puts us in better positions. And then other than that, just trying to go down and score the most points that we can with each drive that we have. That’s kind of my self-goal, and obviously other than that you’ve got to go win. That’s success for me, that’s success for the team. That’s all we wish for and I wish for.”
Williams will have one more regular season game to make it happen. On Sunday night, Williams threw for a season-high 330 passing yards, so it’s certainly possible especially when you consider how banged up the Lions secondary is going into their final game of the season.
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