The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have an intense rivalry that dates back to the earliest days of the NFL, and the animosity between the two original franchises — both members of the league since its founding in 1922 and located only about 200 miles from each other — was on full display Sunday night when the teams met in the Wild Card round of the NFC playoffs.
If there was any doubt how the teams felt about each other, Bears head coach Ben Johnson made his own feelings extremely clear in a fiery postgame locker room speech after Chicago scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to complete a remarkable comeback win. The Packers led 21-3 after the first half, but Johnson’s team outscored coach Matt LaFleur’s squad 28-6 in the final two quarters to win 31-27 and advance to the NFC Divisional round.
Only Third Playoff Confrontation
The Bears and Packers have faced off 213 times, including once in 1921, when the Bears were called the Chicago Staleys and both teams played in the American Professional Football Association, which changed its name to the National Football League the following year.
Of those showdowns, the Packers have won 109, the Bears 98, with six games tied. Amazingly, however, given that long history the Bears and Packers on Sunday met for only the third time in the postseason, and the first since Jan. 23, 2011, when the Packers behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers beat the Bears 21-14 in the NFC Championship game, and went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.
Before that, the teams had not met in a playoff game for 70 years. The Bears won that NFL Divisional Round game on Dec. 14, 1941 — one week after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that led the United States to enter World War II the following day — by a 33-14 score.
Johnson Makes Feelings Extremely Clear
The Bears-Packers rivalry clearly had a personal dimension for Johnson, who has reportedly had a so-called “beef” with LaFleur for months.
What the roots of that conflict are has never been made fully clear, but after taking the Bears head coaching job over the offseason, Johnson remarked that he “kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year” when he was offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.
Johnson’s fired-up comments in his postgame speech Sunday night were considerably more pointed than his earlier remarks.
“F*** the Packers! F*** them!” Johnson shouted, in the opening words of his speech to players. “I f*****g hate those guys!”
Johnson Attempts to Explain Emotions
Asked later about the reasons behind his profane and highly emotional outburst, Johnson said that he had heard “noise” coming from Green Bay leading up to the playoff game.
“There was probably a little bit more noise coming out of their building up north to start the week, which we heard loud and clear, players and coaches alike,” Johnson said, as quoted by NBC Sports. “So this one meant something to us.”
The Bears and Packers met twice in three weeks in the regular season, with Green Bay winning the first contest on Dec. 7, 28-21. But that was the last game the Packers won this season. They went on to finish their campaign by losing five straight, including two to the Bears, 22-16 in overtime on Dec. 20, and then again on Sunday night to end their season.
Bears Ben Johnson Doesn’t Hold Back on Feelings For Defeated Packers