Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson
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Ben Johnson, Bears head coach.
The rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears is one of the best in the NFL — if not in all of sports. And Bears head coach Ben Johnson appears determined to keep it that way.
While speaking to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk at the NFL Scouting Combine, Florio flat-out asked Johnson, “What’s the deal with the Packers?”
“Who likes the Packers?” Johnson said bluntly.
Florio followed up by asking how much of that was the second-year head coach leaning into his role as the Packers’ heated rival.
“The Bears and the Packers, they should not like each other,” Johnson said. “I think it’s as simple as that. I think that’s going to make this rivalry, this game, something that people are going to watch here going forward.”
Ben Johnson Makes It Clear Where He Stands With Packers HC Matt LaFleur
Florio then asked Johnson whether he and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur had spoken or had any sort of relationship.
“No, we don’t talk,” Johnson said.
“Do you want it that way?” Florio asked.
“I’m good with it,” Johnson responded.
“Has he tried to reach out to you?” Florio followed up.
“No,” Johnson said.
The rivalry seemed to intensify this past season after Johnson joined the Bears. In their three meetings, the Packers took the first game at Lambeau Field, 28-21, but lost the next two at Soldier Field — including a Wild Card matchup.
Each postgame handshake between the two head coaches was intense and brief, and the tension appeared to escalate with each meeting.
Ben Johnson Hasn’t Held Back On His Feelings Against The Packers
This wasn’t the first time Johnson has made his feelings about the Packers known. In fact, he was far more emphatic after Chicago’s Wild Card win.
“F— the Packers,” Johnson said in a postgame locker room video after the victory, per ESPN. “F— them. F—ing hate those guys.”
Johnson later doubled down, though in a more measured tone than his viral locker room comments.
“This is a rivalry,” Johnson said Monday. “And [for] the city of Chicago, Green Bay — it needs to be a rivalry.”
The three matchups last season may have only been the beginning of what’s ahead for the Packers and Bears, especially with Johnson patrolling the sidelines in Chicago.
He likely has added motivation as well.
Before Chicago’s win on January 5, the Bears had not defeated the Packers since December 16, 2018, dropping 11 straight games. In a rivalry that dates back to 1921 — the NFL’s oldest — Green Bay still holds a 109-98-6 edge in the all-time series.
The Packers built much of that lead during a six-year stretch of dominance. Johnson appears intent on closing that gap.