Lions will play Bears on NFL Thanksgiving game in 2026

Ben Johnson broke some Detroit Lions followers hearts when he left for the division rival Chicago Bears. Now, he’ll attempt to 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.

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Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator in 2022-24, lead the Bears to an NFC North title in his first season as coach final fall however went 0-2 towards the Lions.

The Lions beat the Bears at Ford Field in Week 2 final season, 52-21, and edged Chicago in the season finale, 19-16.

The Bears completed 11-6 and reached the divisional spherical of the playoffs, whereas the Lions went 9-8 and missed the postseason.

Asked about his relationship with Johnson on the NFL’s annual assembly in March, Lions coach Dan Campbell stated he has “a lot of respect for Ben.”

“It’s a good relationship,” Campbell stated. “Our families were around each other, his kids, his wife, him. I mean, when you’re with someone 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.”

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The NFL has launched a handful of high-profile video games in conjunction with its broadcast companions this week and will unveil its full 272-game schedule at 8 pm Thursday.

So far, the Lions have two video games locked in, in addition to Thanksgiving.

They’re scheduled to play a Thursday night time street game towards the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 17 in what will be the first game at Buffalo’s new stadiumthey usually’ll host the New England Patriots in an international game in Munich on Nov. 15.

The Lions have misplaced eight of their previous 9 Thanksgiving video games, with their solely win in that span coming towards the Bears in 2024. They misplaced to Green Bay in 2025.

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Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. observe him on Bluesky, x and instagram at @davebirkett.

This article initially appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving game 2026 is against Chicago Bears