Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall has referred to the Detroit Lions as his side's "annoying little brother".

The Lions completed a clean sweep over the Bears for the first time since 2007 with their 21-19 victory on Sunday, moving into sole control of the NFC North in the process.

Marshall admitted that the Lions had got the better of his side in the regular season meetings, but insists that the Bears remain stronger and better than Detroit and warned that they would not make it three in a row if the two teams met again in the playoffs.

"It's the little brother that kind of grew up a little bit. He may be a little taller than the big brother. He's not stronger. He's not better than the big brother at anything. But that one day, he just says, 'I'm fed up. I'm done. I'm going to punch my brother in the face,'" Marshall told ESPN.

"It's the little brother that, big brother wants to go out and play with his friends and the little brother is annoying, [saying], 'Hey, can I go?'. No, you can't go, Detroit Lions. Sit back. Sit in your little city. Fix your financial problems and all of that, you know. You can't come with us right now.

"But right now, they've got the best of us. They beat us twice. They swept us. But what matters is when we see them in the playoffs. It'll be a great show. It's going to be tough. But I guarantee it's not going to go down like it did the first two games."

The Bears are currently tied for second place in the NFC North ahead of Sunday's match against the Baltimore Ravens.