It’s Packers week, and in a big rivalry game like this, you know we will want to do our traditional 5 questions with the SB Nation Green Bay Packers site (Acme Packing Company). Unfortunately, multiple emails to our contact over at Acme went unanswered. Were they simply too busy? Or were they scared?
Now, if this were a game against the New York Jets or Atlanta Falcons, it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world for our readers if we couldn’t get this Q&A. However, for Packers week, I feel like we needed to deliver. So, we asked ChatGPT to stand in for ACME Packing Company and answer our questions about the Packers. Here are the answers.
**1\. Are the 2026 Green Bay Packers a good football team?**
Short answer: not really. The 2026 Packers look more like a mediocre-to-below-average team with some upside than a true contender.
* They’re 2–2 after four games, including a 17–14 win at Tampa Bay last Sunday.
* The underlying numbers are concerning: 18.3 points per game (28th) and 26.3 points allowed (23rd), with a -32 point differential. Pro Football Reference’s SRS has them 29th in the league so far.
* The offense has been inconsistent. Jordan Love threw two TDs against Tampa, but Green Bay managed only 197 passing yards and 86 rushing yards.
* The defense has suffered a significant blow: linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is out for the season with an Achilles tear.
* Their division is also a problem: Minnesota is 4–0, and Chicago is 3–1, so Green Bay is already playing catch-up in the NFC North.
That said, I wouldn’t write them off. Jordan Love gives them a legitimate quarterback, Matt LaFleur is a good coach, and a 2–2 record means they have plenty of time to turn things around. My current assessment: ~5.5/10 team. Possibly a wild-card contender, but nowhere near the NFL’s elite right now. And Sunday’s game against 3–1 Chicago is a pretty important early test.
**2\. Who is considered a better offensive mind in football: Ben Johnson or Matt LaFleur?**
If you mean pure offensive mind / schematic creativity, I’d take Ben Johnson over Matt LaFleur.
1\. Ben Johnson — better offensive architect/play designer
2\. Matt LaFleur — more proven overall offensive coach
* Johnson is more creative and unpredictable. His Detroit offenses were built around sequencing, formations, motion, personnel manipulation, and creating answers for whatever a defense presents. Detroit had three straight top-five offenses in points and yards during his OC tenure.
* He gets a lot out of the run game. Johnson doesn’t treat rushing as merely a way to stay balanced; he uses it to manipulate defensive structure and create passing opportunities. Chicago’s offense under him has retained that identity.
* His quarterback-friendly design is a major strength. The improvement from Caleb Williams’ rookie season to Year 2 was one of the strongest arguments for Johnson’s coaching ability.
* Defensive coaches clearly respect both. In The Athletic’s 2026 play-caller ranking, Johnson was No. 3 and LaFleur No. 4, so the league’s defensive personnel essentially had them in the same tier.
Here are my distinctions.
If you asked me, “Who would you rather have designing an offense for one game against a great defense?” Ben Johnson.
If you asked, “Who has demonstrated over a longer period that he can consistently produce a good NFL offense?” Matt LaFleur.
If you asked, “Who is the more naturally gifted offensive schemer?” Johnson, pretty clearly, IMO.
And interestingly, the gap may be getting wider rather than narrower. Johnson is only in his second season as a head coach/play-caller, while LaFleur has been doing it for years. Yet Johnson is already being described by NFL analysts as potentially the defining offensive play-caller of the 2020s.
My overall offensive-mind score: Johnson 9.5/10, LaFleur 8.0/10. The more interesting debate, though, is Johnson vs. Shanahan/McVay/Reid—that’s where I’d start separating “great play-caller” from “all-time offensive architect.”
**3\. Who would you rather have as your quarterback moving forward: Caleb Williams or Jordan Love?**
If I’m choosing one QB to have moving forward, I’m taking Caleb Williams.
This season, though, Jordan Love is the better statistical quarterback today. Through four games in 2026, Love has 1,041 yards, 8 TDs, and 3 INTs with an 86.5 rating, while Williams has only played two games because of his hamstring injury.
But for the next 5–7 years, I want Caleb:
* **Age:** Williams is 24; Love is 27.
* **Ceiling:** Caleb’s combination of arm talent, mobility, creativity, and off-platform throwing gives him a higher theoretical ceiling.
* **Situation:** I also really like what Ben Johnson could do with Caleb long-term.
* **Risk:** Love has already demonstrated that he can be a high-level NFL starter, whereas Caleb still has to prove he can consistently reach that level.
The biggest argument for Love is that we already know Love can win from the pocket and play efficient, explosive football. His 2023–25 stretch was legitimately impressive, and even Ben Johnson recently called him one of the better QBs in the league.
**My ranking for dynasty/long-term:**
1. **Caleb Williams — higher ceiling**
2. **Jordan Love — higher floor**
**4\. Many Packers fans are upset about the way Bears fans are talking about their team. Have Packers fans or players talked trash about the Bears in the past?**
Absolutely. Packers fans and players have talked plenty of trash about the Bears over the years. The Packers–Bears rivalry is one of the NFL’s oldest, and the trash talk has gone in both directions.
A few especially good examples:
* Aaron Rodgers — “I own you.” In 2021 at Soldier Field, after running for a touchdown, Rodgers turned toward Bears fans and repeatedly yelled, “I own you! I still own you!” He later said he had reacted to fans giving him the middle finger, but also proudly connected the comment to Green Bay’s dominance of Chicago.
* Greg Jennings — “We hate them, too.” In 2012, after Bears receiver Brandon Marshall criticized the Packers’ defense, Jennings openly embraced the rivalry: “We don’t like them. They don’t like us.” He also mocked Chicago’s defense for playing Cover 2 and challenged Marshall’s complaints about Green Bay’s coverage.
* Charles Woodson — “Same-old Jay.” After the Packers beat Chicago in 2012 and Jay Cutler threw four interceptions, Woodson took a shot at him, saying essentially that Cutler was the same old Jay and would keep throwing the Packers the ball. Cutler had struggled badly against Green Bay throughout his career.
* Ryan Grant’s “little brother” line. Before the 2011 NFC Championship Game, Packers RB Ryan Grant described the rivalry as being like a family feud: “The Bears and the Packers are almost like big brother-little brother.” His point was essentially that you can respect your brother while still wanting to beat the hell out of him.
* And it goes way, way back. Accounts from early Packers–Bears games describe players and fans swearing at each other, shaking fists, and needing police protection around the field. This wasn’t some rivalry invented by Twitter in the last decade.
The interesting part about today’s complaints
Trash talk is baked into this rivalry. Packers players themselves have absolutely participated in it, sometimes very publicly and very aggressively.
In fact, there have been periods when Green Bay’s dominance over Chicago gave Packers fans an enormous amount of ammunition. Rodgers’ “I own you” moment is probably the clearest modern example: it wasn’t just some random fanbase feud—an actual Packers superstar publicly taunted Bears fans in their own stadium.
At the same time, there _is_ a distinction worth making: not every Packers fan is hypocritical just because Packers players have trash-talked Chicago. Someone can dislike excessive fan behavior while still acknowledging that Green Bay has historically dished it out too.
And there’s a particularly funny irony here: Bears players themselves have recently complained that Packers players/fans talk more trash than anyone else they play.
So if you’re asking, “Have Packers fans/players historically been innocent victims of Bears trash talk?” — definitely not. Both sides have been doing this for generations.
**5\. Please predict who will win on Sunday, the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers.**
I’d go Bears 24, Packers 17
* Chicago is 3–1, while Green Bay is 2–2.
* The Bears have won their last two, and their defense has allowed 12 points or fewer in three straight games.
* Green Bay has home-field advantage at Lambeau, but its offense has struggled, particularly on the ground.
* The big concern for Chicago is Caleb Williams being out; Tyson Bagent will start. Chicago also has several offensive-line and running-back injuries.
* The betting market currently leans Chicago by roughly 2½ points, although some models are considerably closer.
My confidence: 64% Bears / 36% Packers.
The biggest swing factor for me is whether Green Bay can exploit Chicago’s backup QB situation. If Bagent protects the football, I think Chicago’s defense and running game are enough to steal a one-score game at Lambeau Field.
See More:
* [Chicago Bears Analysis](/chicago-bears-analysis)
* [Five Questions With...](/chicago-bears-interviews-exclusive-five-questions-with)