Williams closes in on team passing record, 4,000-yard mark as Bears try to lock in No. 2 seed

Detroit (8-8) at Chicago (11-5)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Bears by 3.

Against the spread: Lions 7-9; Bears 9-6-1.

Series record: Bears lead 105-81-5.

Last meeting: Lions beat Bears 52-21 at Detroit on Sept. 14.

Last week: Lions lost at Minnesota 23-10; Bears lost at San Francisco 42-38.

Lions offense: overall (6), rush (15), pass (5), scoring (3).

Lions defense: overall (18), rush (16), pass (19), scoring (22-T).

Bears offense: overall (3), rush (3), pass (11), scoring (10).

Bears defense: overall (28), rush (28), pass (21), scoring (22-T).

Turnover differential: Lions plus-4; Bears plus-22.

QB Jared Goff. The four-time Pro Bowler hopes to show the form he had in the first meeting against Chicago and finish on a strong note coming off his worst performance this season. Goff set season highs with two interceptions and three fumbles and matched one by getting sacked five times last week. In the first game against the Bears, he threw for 334 yards and matched a career high with five touchdown passes, including three scores to Amon-Ra St. Brown.

QB Caleb Williams: Last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, Williams has a chance to set the franchise single-season passing record and become the first Bears player to throw for 4,000 yards. With 3,730 yards, he needs 109 to surpass Erik Kramer's 3,838 in 1995. Chicago is the only team in the NFL not to have a 4,000-yard passer. Williams came up big last week, throwing for a season-high 330 yards and two touchdowns. It was his 23rd game without an interception, something no other starting NFL quarterback has done in their first two seasons. Dallas' Dak Prescott had 22 games without an INT in his first two years.

Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson vs. Chicago's offensive line. Hutchinson has given the Bears all they can handle in four seasons, with 4 1/2 sacks in five games. He has a career-high 13 1/2 on the season, including one in Week 2 against Chicago. He'll be going against a far different offensive line this time, one that's performing as well as any in the NFL. Rookie Ozzy Trapilo has settled in at left tackle after Braxton Jones was benched in Week 4 and initially replaced by Theo Benedet.

Lions: St. Brown (knee) could be a game-time decision. ... C Graham Glasgow (knee) missed the game against Pittsburgh two weeks ago and was relegated to two special teams snaps against Minnesota. … LT Taylor Decker (shoulder), who will mull retirement in the offseason, is expected to start after missing last week's game because of an illness. ... TE Sam LaPorta is improving following back surgery in mid-November, though he is not completely healed.

Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot) has missed the past four games. ... Chicago hopes WR Luther Burden (quad) plays this week after he was hurt at the end of the San Francisco game. ... LB Noah Sewell (Achilles tendon) was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday.

The Bears have dropped three straight and six of seven against Detroit, including an embarrassing loss in Week 2 that put them at 0-2. The Lions came within three points of the franchise regular-season record set against Chicago in 1997; they scored 59 against Cleveland in the 1957 NFL championship game. The 52 points allowed by Chicago were three shy of its franchise mark.

Detroit, which came into the season as a Super Bowl favorite, could go from capturing the No. 1 seed in the NFC last season to finishing last in the NFC North. The Lions are tied with Minnesota in the division, with the Vikings winning both meetings. ... Detroit has lost three straight, its worst streak since a five-game slide in 2022. ... The Lions lead the league with 21 rushing touchdowns by running backs — 13 by Jahmyr Gibbs and eight by David Montgomery. ... The NFC North champion Bears fell out of the running for the No. 1 seed with last week's loss. They can secure the second seed and a home game against rival Green Bay with a win or a loss by Philadelphia to Washington. Chicago would get the third seed with a loss or tie combined with an Eagles victory. ... Ben Johnson needs one win to tie the franchise record for a first-year head coach by Matt Nagy in 2018. ... The Bears have won six straight home games since a season-opening loss to Minnesota. ... Chicago leads the NFL in interceptions (22), takeaways (32) and turnover differential (plus-22). The Bears have also committed a league-low 10 turnovers. ... S Kevin Byard leads the NFL with six interceptions. CB Nahshon Wright is tied for second with five INTs and has a league-leading eight takeaways. ... Chicago is the only team with at least two 700-yard rushers — D’Andre Swift (1,047) and Kyle Monangai (769). ... With 9 1/2 sacks, DE Montez Sweat can secure his second double-digit season. He had 12 1/2 for Washington and Chicago in 2023. ... Burden, a rookie, had career highs of eight receptions for 138 yards and caught a TD pass against San Francisco, after missing the previous game with an ankle injury.

Though he caught just one pass against San Francisco, Chicago's DJ Moore has played a bigger role in recent weeks with Odunze sidelined. If Burden is limited or can't play, that could create more opportunities for him.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, right, catches a pass past Detroit Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, center, is sacked by Minnesota Vikings linebackers Andrew van Ginkel, second from left, and Dallas Turner, right, during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, left, passes while pressured by San Francisco 49ers defensive end Clelin Ferrell (96) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

Minnesota officials have until next week to hand over information on providers and parents who receive federal child care funds that the Trump administration contends have been used fraudulently or risk losing federal funding. State officials said Friday recent inspections showed several childcare centers accused of fraud by a right-wing influencer were “operating as expected.”

In an email sent Friday to child care providers and shared with The Associated Press by multiple providers, Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families said it has until Jan. 9 to provide information about recipients of the funds.

The announcement earlier this week by the Trump administration that it would freeze child care funds to Minnesota and the rest of the states comes after a series of fraud schemes involving government programs in Minnesota run by Somali residents, as were many of the childcare centers.

Allegations of fraud at the child care centers went viral recently when a right-wing influencer posted a video claiming there was fraud taking place, putting Minnesota and some other states in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.

State officials said investigators did spot checks and reviews of nine centers this week in response to the influencer's video posted last week, found no operational issues. One center was not yet open at the time, and there are ongoing investigations at four of them.

The Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides $185 million in child care funds annually to Minnesota, federal officials have said.

The email sent Friday instructed providers and families who rely on the frozen federal child care program to continue the program’s “licensing and certification requirements and practices as usual.” It does not say that recipients themselves need to take any action or provide any information.

“We recognize the alarm and questions this has raised,” the email said. “We found out about the freezing of funds at the same time everyone else did on social media.”

The state agency added that it “did not receive a formal communication from the federal government until late Tuesday night,” which was after Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill posted about the freeze on X. All 50 states will have to provide additional levels of verification and administrative data before they receive more funding from the Child Care and Development Fund, which is designed to make child care affordable for low-income families.

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing Wednesday to discuss the allegations of fraudulent use of federal funds in Minnesota. An HHS spokesperson said that the child care fraud hotline put up by the federal agency earlier this week has received more than 200 tips.

Minnesota has drawn ire from Republicans and the Trump administration over other fraud accusations.

Administration for Children and Families Assistant Secretary Alex Adams told Fox News on Friday that his agency sent Minnesota a letter last month asking for information on the child care program and other welfare programs by Dec. 26, but didn't get a response. The state did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler posted Thursday on X that the agency suspended 6,900 Minnesota borrowers of COVID-19 era loans because of suspected fraud. Trump has also targeted the state's large Somali community with immigration enforcement actions and called them “garbage.”

Minnesota Democrats say the Trump administration is playing politics and hurting families and children as a result. Minnesota's Department of Children, Youth and Families said in a press release Friday that inspectors conduct regular oversight activities for the child care program, noting that there are 55 related open investigations involving providers.

“DCYF remains committed to fact-based reviews that stop fraud, protect children, support families, and minimize disruption to communities that rely on these essential services," the department said. "Distribution of unvetted or deceptive claims and misuse of tip lines can interfere with investigations, create safety risks for families, providers, and employers, and has contributed to harmful discourse about Minnesota’s immigrant communities.”

Maria Snider, director of a child care center in St. Paul and vice president of advocacy group Minnesota Child Care Association, said providers currently get paid at least three weeks after services are provided. Some 23,000 children and 12,000 families receive funding from the targeted child care program each month on average, according to the state.

“For a lot of centers, we’re already running on a thin margin,” she said. “Even centers where 10 to 15% of their kids are on childcare assistance, that’s a dip in your income.”

Any child who attends a child care center with attendees who receive federal funding could be impacted, Snider said.

According to the Friday email from Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families, HHS sent a letter to Minnesota asking for data from 2022 to 2025, including identifying information of all recipients of the child care funds, a list of all providers who receive the funds, how much they receive and “information related to alleged fraud networks and oversight failures.” It’s unclear whether Minnesota already has the data the administration is asking for.

HHS said five child care centers that receive funds from the child care program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families would have to provide “specific documentation” such as attendance, inspections and assessments, according to the email.

HHS said it would provide Minnesota with more information by Jan. 5, but the state agency wrote that it’s unclear what kinds of funding restrictions it faces.

“Our teams are working hard to analyze the legal, fiscal, and other aspects of this federal action,” the email says. “We do not know the full impact.”

Children watch television at ABC Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - State Sen. Michelle Benson reacts at a news conference on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul to a report by the state's legislative auditor on combatting fraud in Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski,File)

People gather for a news conference at the state capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Giovanna Dell'Orto)