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The Chicago Bears will close out their 2025 regular season looking for an emphatic statement against the Detroit Lions, who defeated Chicago by 31 points in their Week 2 meeting. Detroit has been eliminated from playoff contention while the Bears have an opportunity to earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture, which they will do with a win over Ben Johnson's former team in Week 18 on Sunday.
Both teams are much different than when they met earlier this season, especially on the offensive side of the ball where quarterback Caleb WIlliams has shown tremendous growth as the weeks have gone by. More than just Williams, the Bears have seen significant development from their rookie playmakers, specifically tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden.
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Chicago just showed that they are at a point offensively where they can hang with any team score-for-score, and they'll need every bit of it against Detroit. Hare are the top offensive keys for the Bears in Week 18:
Keep Caleb Williams upright
In their first matchup this season, the Lions sacked Caleb Williams four times, the most he's been sacked all season against an opponent. Aidan Hutchinson is the superstar pass rusher for Detroit, and he'll be looking to make life hard on tackles Darnell Wright and rookie Ozzy Trapilo, who has quietly established himself as the team's consistent starting left tackle. If Williams has time and a clean pocket, he not only operates well, but is able to use his escapability to create even bigger plays outside of the pocket.
Get rookies involved
Rookies Luther Burden and Colston Loveland were sparingly used in the first meeting against Detroit, but now they're focal points of the Bears offense. With Rome Odunze still battling injury, Chicago's top offensive threats in the passing game will be DJ Moore and the two rookies. Last week in the loss to the Niners, Burden and Loveland combined for 232 receiving yards while also scoring a touchdown a piece, establishing themselves as serious threats in Ben Johnson's offense.
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Outrush the Lions
Over the season, the Bears have established their running game as one of their biggest strengths with the team, using a duo of D'Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai to break dwon defenses. The duo is somewhat similar to what Johnson had during his time as offensive coordinator in Detroit, with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, who out performed the Bears backfield in Week 2. If the Bears can get off to a good start on the ground, it should set the pace and tone for the offense and likely pave the way for what they want to do to pull off the win.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs. Lions: Keys for Chicago's offense in Week 18
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