The Detroit Lions squeaked by the Chicago Bears, washing a bit of the bad taste out of their mouths after a tumultuous three-game collapse to close the season. Kelvin Sheppard’s defense blanked Chicago through three quarters, while the Lions offense moved the ball reasonably well before repeatedly ramming its head into the brick wall that was the red zone.
By definition, a last-second field goal win as underdogs qualifies as gritty. But for a stretch—as the Bears ripped off 16 straight points—the
Lions again looked rudderless, dispirited, and uncomfortably familiar, briefly resembling a shell of themselves. Still, given the circumstances, Sunday played out about as well as it realistically could have.
Detroit sent its worst-to-first rival Bears into the postseason riding a two-game losing streak, secured a fourth-place schedule for next season, and maintained relatively premium draft positioning (pick No. 17 overall) despite the win.
There are still major decisions looming around the coaching staff, scheme, roster evaluation, and roster construction in what’s shaping up as one of the most consequential offseasons in franchise history. But this was the Lions’ best performance in at least a month, and the final stock report of the season reflects that.
Stock up: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
The Lions needed their best players to step and make the biggest plays more this season, but in Week 18, St. Brown consistently played like the best player on the field.
Things didn’t get off to the hottest start. On the opening drive, St. Brown dropped a slant on third-and-five that stalled a red-zone possession and forced the Lions to settle for a field goal. The drop immediately brought back that uncomfortable feeling of the dark cloud hanging over this season. Fortunately, St. Brown quickly broke through and made it vanish with one of his finest performances of the year.
St. Brown spent most of the day cooking former Lion C.J. Gardner-Johnson and alleged Pro Bowl snub Nahshon Wright, finishing with 11 receptions, 139 receiving yards, and eight first downs (four on third down). The Lions’ All-Pro wideout directly contributed to every point Detroit scored, with his biggest play coming on a 26-yard catch-and-run in the game’s final minute to set up the game-winning field goal. A high note to end the season.
Stock up: Avonte Maddox, S & Rock-Ya Sin, CB
A major hat tip to the Lions pro personnel department for prioritizing these two depth pieces on relatively affordable veteran contracts that any team could have topped if they wanted to.
It’s not hyperbole to say that down the stretch—despite a few ups and downs—these two were Detroit’s most important defensive backs.
Ya-Sin ended the Bears’ opening drive of the second half by bullying Colston Loveland on third down and breaking up a slant. On the very next drive, Maddox bullied D.J. Moore at the goal line for an interception, snuffing out another Bears possession with an aggressive, decisive play on the ball.
Across 33 coverage snaps and three targets, Ya-Sin allowed just one first-down reception. He showed urgency on two separate blitzes, stood strong in run support, and even would have forced a fumble by ripping the ball out of Kyle Monangai’s arms if not for a slightly premature whistle. Maddox does get docked for biting badly on the Jahdae Walker touchdown, but overall he played an outstanding game as a post safety, limiting Caleb Williams’ big-game-hunting tendencies and doing his best Kerby Joseph impression.
Stock down: Derrick Barnes & Malcolm Rodriguez, LBs
While Barnes continued to log a significant number of snaps at the line of scrimmage, the Lions got an unfortunate glimpse of what life might look like without Alex Anzalone.
Barnes had a number of stepping-on-rakes missteps, and it’s fair to wonder whether he’s athletic enough for his tweener role or Anzalone’s role next season. On both successful D’Andre Swift runs on the opening drive, Barnes was out of position and lacked the speed to maintain outside contain. Later, he was swallowed up by Colston Loveland’s block on another run, beaten by Loveland in coverage on fourth down for a conversion, and comically missed a tackle despite being in position on a Luther Burden end-around that still went for a first down. He failed to make a dent as a pass rusher and was in the vicinity—but not effective—on the Loveland touchdown.
Rodriguez didn’t escape unscathed either. He missed a tackle on Swift and was picked on during the Bears’ comeback, often getting caught in difficult coverage assignments.
It wasn’t all bad. Barnes forced an incompletion by prying the ball loose from Loveland on another fourth down and held Williams to no gain on a goal-line rollout. Rodriguez also delivered a clean shot on Cole Kmet for a loss after Williams was an escape artist to elude an Aidan Hutchinson pressure and dumped the ball off.
Stock up: Mekhi Wingo, DT
I’m sure Lions fans were universally looking forward to the possibility of Wingo being active all week long against the Bears, especially with Alim McNeill out, but I didn’t envision him playing 20-plus snaps. When he was on the field for Aidan Hutchinson’s sack, you could practically see those fans leaning forward and pointing at their TVs like Rick Dalton.
Wingo made the most of his opportunities, hustling to tackle D.J. Moore ten yards downfield on a quick screen, generating pressure on a play-action rollout that helped force an incompletion, and then showing up in a big way by bench-pressing former Lion Jonah Jackson and taking down D’Andre Swift for a one-yard gain on a fourth-quarter run.
It was a really promising performance—one that will leave fans wanting more and give defensive coaches plenty to consider as they factor Wingo into their 2026 plans entering his third season.
Stock up: David Montgomery, RB
It might have only been nine touches for 55 yards (6.1 yards per touch), but it felt different. His presence was felt by the Bears defense, and he was consistently factored into the game.
Montgomery was mixed in as early as the opening drive and remained involved into the fourth quarter. Six of his eight carries were successful, going for 4, 4, 7, 5, 9, and 9 yards, including two that moved the chains. He also picked up a first down on his lone reception during the third-quarter drive that ended in a field goal to make it 16–0, making an impressive catch-and-run that included a stiff-arm on Tremaine Edmunds before sliding up the sideline.
While Montgomery couldn’t punch it in when called upon near the goal line—often via Wildcat—and had a questionable trick-play pass drawn up for him, plus a late run where he should’ve stayed in bounds (though it ultimately worked out), he complemented the offense well. The backfield split with Jahmyr Gibbs felt more natural and balanced.
Quick hits
STOCK UP:
- Jared Goff, QB: Goff caught plenty of flack for the Christmas Day loss and responded by playing well in the Chicago cold, keeping multiple drives alive with smart anticipation on gutsy throws from the pocket and delivering darts over the middle. He finished 9-of-12 for 120 yards and a touchdown, with an astounding +23.8% completion percentage over expectation while under pressure.
- Jahmyr Gibbs, RB: The Texas route touchdown was massive. His 21 touches for 113 total yards (5.3 yards per touch) marked a clear improvement over the last month, and on multiple plays he made chicken salad from chicken shit blocking and design. His 57.9% rushing success rate was the fifth highest of his season.
- Jameson Williams, WR: Matched up consistently with Jaylon Johnson, Williams played well aside from one drop, finishing with six catches for 74 yards and three first downs. He blasted off like a rocket on his final fourth-quarter gain of 23 yards.
- Kalif Raymond, WR: Raymond made Holy Cross proud once again—perhaps in his final game as a Lion—stepping up in the second half with a 24-yard catch-and-run immediately following a tough nine-yard screen, motoring for 19 yards on another crosser, and adding a 14-yard punt return to help set up the game-winning field goal.
- Taylor Decker, LT: It wasn’t pretty, but Decker was a grizzled warrior out on the battlefield for his teammates.
- Tate Ratledge, RG: Aside from one penalty, Ratledge made the most of his first start without Penei Sewell next to him, helping spring several successful runs by both Gibbs and Montgomery to the right side while continuing to be an absolute rock in pass protection. Over the last month, he’s clearly kicked his pass blocking up a level.
- Chris Hubbard, RT: The 34-year-old played admirably in his 62nd career start.
- Kelvin Sheppard, DC: While the defense didn’t have many answers during the Bears’ two late touchdown drives, they still held Chicago under 100 rushing yards (3.6 yards per carry), under 300 total yards, and under 20 points—a week after the Bears dropped 38 points and 440 yards on the road. Two strong performances in a row for his unit.
- Aidan Hutchinson, DE: Hutchinson firmly put his midseason slump in the rearview mirror to close the year. He battled effectively in run defense on both the play side and backside, brought down Caleb Williams for a sack, narrowly missed another, and consistently beat both Darnell Wright and Theo Benedet to generate pressure.
- Tyleik Williams, DT: Hello, I’d like to report a murder. Williams killed Pro Bowl left guard Joe Thuney to blow up Monangai for a tackle for loss early, then showed active eyes and hands to bat down a Caleb Williams pass late in the second quarter.
- Roy Lopez, DT: Shot the gap to force a cut back on one run and collapsed the pocket multiple times while maintaining leverage at the point of attack.
- DJ Reader, NT: In what could be his final game as a Lion, Reader was owning center Drew Dalman—and Jackson at times—in the run game.
- Jack Campbell, LB: Was flying to the football against the run, though he did allow one tight-window completion to Loveland in coverage short of the sticks on third down, he nearly had an interception reading Williams eyes on one pass over the middle.
- D.J. Reed & Amik Robertson, CB: Showed up in run support and weren’t attacked often in coverage.
- Daniel Thomas, SAF: A clear plus player when tasked with getting downhill in the run game while being a little susceptible in coverage
- Jake Bates, K: Four for five on the day including a game-winner
STOCK DOWN:
- Dan Campbell, Playcaller: Hopefully this puts an end to Campbell calling plays with an outside influence needed to come in and refurbish the stripped-down version of their previous unstoppable offense. The offense got the job done, but they couldn’t finish drives, couldn’t hold a lead, and leaned into two awful trick plays — including a costly one on third-and-one. There were multiple failed swing and screen passes, a total absence of explosive runs or downfield shot plays to stretch the defense (remember those?), and convoluted pass-protection schemes. Their 18.2% red-zone success rate was the second-worst of the season, behind only the Eagles game and just ahead of the Steelers game.
- Christian Mahogany, LG: Another frustratingly ugly game in pass protection. That’s now been a trend since his return from injury.
- Graham Glasgow, C: One of the most limited centers in the league from a movement standpoint—reminiscent of Jeff Saturday’s lone season with the Packers—and it showed again against the Bears.
- Shane Zylstra & Anthony Firkser, TE: A much-needed reset is coming for this detrimental position group as currently constructed, although Zach Horton did have a few interesting snaps at fullback.
- Tyler Lacy & Tyrus Wheat, DL: Didn’t make enough of their opportunities. Lacy offset one good backside tackle with a bizarre neutral zone infraction.
- Al-Quadin Muhammad, DE: Games like this make you wonder if he’s worth over $6 million next season.
- Marcus Davenport, DE: Unfortunately, Davenport put in the work to try to make it work here, but his Lions tenure was most notable for sparking arguments among fans—on the radio, online, and belly-up at the bar—about both his availability and impact. His 25-plus snap outing offered very little of substance.
