History, motivation, and playoff positioning all converge Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, where the Chicago Bears host the Detroit Lions in a Week 18 matchup that carries far more weight for one side than the other.

For the Bears, this is about finishing the regular season the right way — and about history staring Caleb Williams square in the face.

With one game left on the schedule, Williams sits on the doorstep of a Bears passing record book that has remained largely untouched for decades. He needs just 109 passing yards to surpass Erik Kramer for the most passing yards in a single season in franchise history (3,838 in 1995), and 270 yards to become the first 4,000-yard passer the Bears have ever had. Williams also enters Week 18 with 25 passing touchdowns, four shy of Kramer’s single-season franchise record of 29.

The timing feels appropriate. Williams is coming off one of the most impressive performances of his young career, throwing for 330 yards in a Sunday night shootout against the San Francisco 49ers, a performance that again highlighted just how dramatically the Bears’ offensive ceiling has shifted with him under center. That outing pushed Williams to 3,730 passing yards — already the third-most in a single season in team history — with one more opportunity to climb to the top.

There will be no easing into the postseason. Head coach Ben Johnson reiterated Wednesday that the Bears have no plans to rest starters, despite having already clinched the NFC North. Chicago is still chasing win No. 12, the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and the chance to set up a wild-card round rubber match with the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field next week.

“We’re playing to win this week,” Johnson said earlier in the week, quickly shutting down any speculation about a conservative approach.

There’s also an emotional layer to this matchup. The Bears haven’t forgotten the 52-21 beatdown they suffered at Ford Field in Week 2 — a loss that doubled as Johnson’s return to Detroit and one of Chicago’s most lopsided defeats of the season. Asked to reflect on that game, Johnson didn’t mince words.

“Being in that locker room and how that felt. You don’t always remember what exactly was said or anything like that,” Johnson said. “but you always remember how you felt in those moments. And I know our players do too. … It’s never a good taste when you get beat like that so handily..”

FULL STORY: BEARS VS LIONS PREVIEW:

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