The 3-12 Chicago Bears will play the 7-8 Detroit Lions in a Week 17 matchup at Ford Field. Here’s what you need to know before kickoff (noon, FOX).
Latest Bears news | Get Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts first | Sign up for our free Bears alerts | Follow us on Instagram
Advertisement
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell felt anxious. Frustrated. “Irritated,” to use his words. Sure, it was only mid-August, and his young and evolving football team was still working through the preseason and grinding to establish an identity. But Campbell couldn’t find it within himself to look past the missteps his players made in the late stages of a 27-23 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in their preseason opener.
No one outside the Lions’ facility was ever going to remember that Friday evening failure at Ford Field, a defeat that ended with reserve quarterback David Blough trying to lead a game-winning rally while throwing passes to Tom Kennedy, Kalil Pimpleton and Derrick Deese Jr.
Advertisement
Heck, most of the Lions players weren’t going to carry that night forward beyond that weekend. The NFL preseason, after all, is so often a “Who’s who of who cares” with so little relevance to what occurs when the games matter.
The Bears held their final practice of 2022 on Friday afternoon in Lake Forest, then flew to Detroit to ring in 2023 with a New Year’s Day game against the Lions at Ford Field.
At Halas Hall, it has been an extraordinarily eventful calendar year complete with a regime change, a major roster overhaul and a flurry of Justin Fields highlights. After Sunday’s game in Detroit, a Week 18 date with the Minnesota Vikings will wrap up the season.
As the countdown to 2023′s arrival nears, here’s our look back, in chronological order, on the 10 most important dates of 2022 for the Bears.
