The Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers rivalry was revived last season with the arrival of Ben Johnson, who helped put the hate back into a rivalry that had lacked competitiveness from Chicago for a long time.
For the last couple of decades, the Packers had completely dominated the Bears, winning 19 of 22 games from 2014-2024. So when Johnson said, in his introductory press conference, that he enjoyed beating Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur twice a year, it was significant. But he didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk.
The Bears won the season series, 2-1, including a thrilling wild-card comeback win that was one of an NFL-record seven fourth-quarter comebacks. But Johnson made headlines with his feud with LaFleur, which was ignited by a drive-by postgame handshake and a “F— the Packers” chant in the postgame locker room.
While Johnson’s actions didn’t sit well with Packers fans, who suddenly can’t stroll to two easy wins every season, Bears general manager Ryan Poles explained that’s exactly why Johnson is the perfect head coach for Chicago.
“That’s what you want to play for,” Poles said on Hoge & Jahns. “You want to play for a guy that’s not scared, that’s aggressive and someone that wants to compete. It raises the level of both organizations to be completely honest with you. We needed that. I think we needed that jump start. When I first got here, it was all about just getting beat by them a lot and it was this mountain to climb. Ben’s like screw it, we’re just going to take this head on and take this rivalry over and we’re not going to be scared to talk about it…..I think it makes it exciting and the NFL exciting. People want to see that. I’d be shocked if those games aren’t in prime time. Everyone wants to be tuned into that game.”
Rivalries are supposed to inspire hatred in a competitive setting, and Johnson is doing something that many of his predecessors never did: Take the rivalry seriously. Now that the playing field is even, Bears-Packers has become must-watch TV, whether it’s Chicago’s improbable comebacks or what transpires after the final whistle, and Johnson is a big reason why.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ryan Poles explains why Ben Johnson is perfect head coach for Bears
Reporting by Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
