The Chicago Bears don’t like the Green Bay Packers, head coach Ben Johnson said so in the most emphatic and graphic way possible following his team’s playoff win over the division rival back in January. And on Sunday, the Packers handed the Bears a beatdown that reminded everyone in both fanbases exactly why the animosity is as severe as it is.
Green Bay rolled Chicago at Lambeau Field, forcing four turnovers and holding the Bears offense to a total of seven points in a dominant performance reminiscent of countless Packers’ victories in the series stretching back more than the last 30 years.
Following the contest in Week 5, Johnson walked to midfield for the mandatory head coach handshake with Matt LaFleur. The pending interaction caught the attention of the cameras given the short, but already storied and volatile history between Johnson’s Bears and LaFleur’s Packers.
And while LaFleur could have been petty, or Johnson could have been fiery, their embrace stretched beyond civil to mildly familiar, and almost friendly (at least on LaFleur’s part) — albeit relatively brief.
“The handshake,” Ryan Wood of USA Today captioned an X video. “Not quite a blow by.”
“Matt LaFleur had to love this,” former ESPN NFL personality Trey Wingo captioned a different angle of the handshake.
In fact, LaFleur patted Johnson on the back after the joining of hands at midfield — as one coach headed to a reinvigorated Packers locker room after the team’s second straight win, while another headed to the visitors’ locker room with serious questions to answer about the quarterback position moving forward.
Ben Johnson Benched QB Tyson Bagent Late in Loss to Green Bay
Johnson would not say whether he will start quarterback Tyson Bagent next week against the Atlanta Falcons after the $10 million backup threw for just 87 yards and two interceptions against the Packers.
“Xavier McKinney again. Tyson Bagent throws an INT over the middle. Pass went behind Colston Loveland,” ESPN’s Courtney Cronin posted X. “Looked similar to the one he threw targeting Loveland last week when Minkah Fitzpatrick picked him off.”
Bagent inked a two-year extension this offseason and was the darling of several trade rumors across the NFL in late February and into March.
QB Caleb Williams Could Get Back Into Bears’ Starting Lineup Against Falcons in Week 6
Case Keenum stepped in late in the fourth quarter — after the game was already out of hand and thus too late to make a difference, which Johnson caught heat for on social media — but also threw an interception of his own as the Bears approached the end zone.
Caleb Williams returned to practice on Friday after straining his hamstring in Week 2, which is a decent sign regarding his potential to play against the Atlanta Falcons next Sunday.
If Williams can’t go next week, Johnson may have a difficult time justifying to the fanbase another start for Bagent after how badly he played at Lambeau Field.
Bears’ Ben Johnson, Matt LaFleur Postgame Interaction Turns Heads