The Bears and Lions have played 166 times before their meeting Sunday in Detroit. It's a series that dates back to 1930 when the Lions were knowns as he Portsmouth Spartans.
They are a highway rivalry with a direct route on Interstate 94. But is there an NFL rivalry? Bears head coach Marc Trestman doesn't believe such things exist.
“The Detroit Lions aren’t any more important than any other team,” Trestman said. “We have to play them and we have to compete against them on Sunday and they deserve our maximum respect. If we say there’s a rivalry, then we’re saying one game is more important than the other. It’s not.”
That's a far cry from Lovie Smith's hiring when he was told by team owners to "beat Green Bay" and he made sure his Bears players understood the importance of that rivalry.
Still, the Bears/Lions game is a huge division matchup, as both teams have one win in the NFC North. But don't remind Trestman the Bears are 3-0, because he doesn't believe that either.
"We're not. We're 0-0," Trestman said, insisting to the media this week that Sunday's game in Detroit is just "1 of 13."
