Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson bring stunning confidence into Bears-Lions rivalry

Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson bring stunning confidence into Bears-Lions rivalry originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Few dates on the NFL calendar carry the weight that Thanksgiving does, and the league leans hard on its oldest rivalries to fill that holiday slot.

Recent editions have fallen flat, with lopsided scorelines replacing the drama that fans tune in for. A Chicago Bears versus Detroit Lions clash now sits at the center of the league's push to reverse that trend, and the matchup arrives with personal history attached for Chicago's young quarterback. Caleb Williams has yet to beat Detroit.

His record against the Lions stands at 0-4, and his previous Thanksgiving meeting with that opponent ended with his first head coach losing the job in humiliating circumstances. Bringing in Ben Johnson was supposed to close the gap separating these two NFC North programs. Year one did not deliver on that promise in the standings against Detroit, though it did deliver a division title for Chicago despite the team going 0-2 against the Lions.

Detroit, meanwhile, enters fully healthy and intent on returning to the form that recently made them the conference's most feared offense. The Bears finished 11-6 last season, suggesting the partnership of Johnson and Williams is heading somewhere real. Williams and Johnson now have a chance to reclaim that tradition and reshape the rivalry in one nationally televised window.