It didn’t take new Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson long to take a not-so-subtle dig at the Green Bay Packers.
More specifically, the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
During his introductory press conference with the Bears on Wednesday, Johnson talked about his respect for the NFC North — which he called the toughest division in the NFL — and mentioned all three coaches inside the division by name. But while he mentioned Dan Campbell and Kevin O’Connell as potential Coach of the Year winners, he had a different bit of dialogue for Matt LaFleur.
“And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year,” Johnson quipped.
https://twitter.com/CoachspeakIndex/status/1882114236559831449
Johnson was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions between 2022 and 2024. The Lions went 5-1 against the Packers in the six games over the three seasons, including sweeps during the 2022 and 2024 seasons.
Instead of leaving the division, Johnson decided to stay in the NFC North and take over the only team that failed to make the postseason in 2024.
He’ll have a big task ahead, no matter how optimistic he is about Caleb Williams and the Bears roster. Chicago has made the postseason just twice since 2011 and doesn’t have a playoff win since 2010.
And speaking of LaFleur, he won 11 straight games against the Bears to start his coaching career with the Packers. Can Johnson start reversing the trend in the rivalry? We’ll see. The next era of the Packers-Bears rivalry is officially here.