![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1699085049-1.jpg\")
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The Detroit Lions may have it a bit easier in the 2026-27 season against one pesky rival who just won’t go away.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Lions<\/a> are concentrating on their roster for the 2026-27 season<\/a>, but it\u2019s impossible not to look around and see what others in the NFC North<\/a> are doing with their upcoming lineups. As the NFL draft approaches, franchises are laser-focused on what holes remain in their lineups and how to fill those spots.<\/p>\n So, the Lions finished dead last in the NFC North for the 2025-26 season. That was worse that expected, to say the least, since the team was No. 1 in the division just one year earlier. So, where do the team\u2019s rivals in the NFC North stand?<\/p>\n One NFL voice truly believes the Chicago Bears<\/a>, now led by former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, will be easier to beat in 2026. Let\u2019s hope so, because the Bears were a force last season and finished No. 1 in the NFC North.<\/p>\n Detroit Lions May Have It Easier Against the Chicago Bears and Ben Johnson for the 2026-27 Season<\/p>\n In a Monday, April 6 feature for Detroit Jock City<\/a>, Jovan Alford lays out why the Chicago Bears have problems on the team\u2019s secondary. \u201cThe Bears saw a mass exodus in their secondary as Kevin Byard<\/a> III, Jaquan Brisker<\/a>, C.J. Gardner-Johnson<\/a>, Nahshon Wright<\/a>, and Jonathan Owens<\/a> all signed one-year contracts with new teams,\u201d he notes in the piece.<\/p>\n It was a significant exit of a handful of talented players, and that may come back to bite them. \u201cThe Lions, who swept the two-game season series from the Bears in 2025, were specifically happy to see Byard and Wright playing elsewhere,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n To replace some of these players, the Chicago Bears signed free-agent safety Coby Bryant<\/a> in a three-year, $40 million deal, according to ESPN research<\/a>. They also signed defensive back Cam Lewis<\/a> on a two-year, $6 million contract. That\u2019s a heap of bag, and time will tell if it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the cornerback position in Chicago, the Bears will have to lean on Tyrique Stevenson<\/a> as their CB2 with no Wright,\u201d Alford adds<\/a>. So, he says that\u2019s really a \u201cconcerning proposition, as Stevenson\u2019s play has been up and down over his first three years in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n So, the next time Jared Goff and company come up against the Bears, Alford warns that \u201cit could be a long day for those defenders in the secondary.\u201d<\/p>\n One Former Detroit Lions Player Doesn\u2019t Want to Play for the Chicago Bears<\/p>\n Ex-Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker<\/a> has been in NFL<\/a> free agency since the team allowed for his release request in March. Justin Rogers<\/a> of the Detroit Football Network appeared on the Thursday, April 2 episode of the Lions Collective podcast<\/a>, and talked about his interview with Decker, in which the player talked about his annoyance with the poor communication from the franchise<\/a>. Speaking on the podcast, he talked about the teams Decker doesn\u2019t care to join.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants to play for a winner (but) he\u2019s kind of thinking about, \u2018Is it cheap to win somewhere else after you\u2019ve invested all your energy emotionally and physically into one franchise?’\u201d Rogers said on the show.<\/p>\n Rogers added<\/a>, \u201cI will tell you that he\u2019s pretty anti-playing for the Bears and Packers<\/a>. That\u2019s the Lions background.\u201d He continued, \u201cI know Ben Johnson did it, and that was the right situation for him, but Taylor feels kind of dirty about the idea. It just isn\u2019t interesting to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAnne Erickson<\/a> is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lions\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Detroit Lions may have it a bit easier in the 2026-27 season against one pesky rival…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-858322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroitlions","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-lions","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116361915432015072","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}