Ben Johnson broke some Detroit Lions fans hearts when he left for the division rival Chicago Bears. Now, he’ll try and spoil their Thanksgiving.
The Lions will host Johnson and the Bears in their annual Thanksgiving game Nov. 26 at Ford Field, according to The Schultz Report on Wednesday.
Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator in 2022-24, lead the Bears to an NFC North title in his first season as coach last fall but went 0-2 against the Lions.
The Lions beat the Bears at Ford Field in Week 2 last season, 52-21, and edged Chicago in the season finale, 19-16.
The Bears finished 11-6 and reached the divisional round of the playoffs, while the Lions went 9-8 and missed the postseason.
Asked about his relationship with Johnson at the NFL’s annual meeting in March, Lions coach Dan Campbell said he has “a lot of respect for Ben.”
“It’s a good relationship,” Campbell said. “Our families were around each other, his kids, his wife, him. I mean, when you’re with somebody as long as I was with Ben, you’re going to have a relationship. Now, when we play each other we want to beat the crap out of each other, that’s the nature of the business. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a friend, man, and I don’t care for him and want to help him as long as it doesn’t hurt us, and I’m sure he’d tell you the same thing.”
The NFL has released a handful of high-profile games in conjunction with its broadcast partners this week and will unveil its full 272-game schedule at 8 p.m. Thursday.
So far, the Lions have two games locked in, in addition to Thanksgiving.
They’re scheduled to play a Thursday night road game against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 17 in what will be the first game at Buffalo’s new stadium, and they’ll host the New England Patriots in an international game in Munich on Nov. 15.
The Lions have lost eight of their past nine Thanksgiving games, with their only win in that span coming against the Bears in 2024. They lost to Green Bay in 2025.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions will play Bears on NFL Thanksgiving game in 2026
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
