From his postgame handshake to the locker-room fire, Ben Johnson showed exactly how the Bears-Packers rivalry is supposed to be treated.
As the game clock hit 0:00 on Saturday night, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love was dancing in the backfield, desperately scanning 30 yards downfield toward the south end zone at Soldier Field. He finally ran out of time as the pass rush closed in, releasing a throw that fluttered toward the goal line before bouncing off the chest of Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon.
The ball hit the turf. There were no flags. And the Chicago Bears had won their first playoff game in 15 years.
As Soldier Field erupted, Ben Johnson wasted no time. The Bears’ head coach jogged straight to midfield for the customary handshake with Matt LaFleur — a quick, passing brush, barely a glance — before turning and making a beeline for his players.
It wasn’t subtle. And it wasn’t meant to be.
Johnson had predicted in his introductory press conference that he would relish beating LaFleur twice every year. On Saturday night, he backed that up on the biggest stage possible. And if LaFleur’s own rushed handshake after their first meeting this season had lingered in Johnson’s mind, no one in Chicago could blame him.
It felt right for this rivalry. For this moment.
As did what followed inside the Bears’ locker room.
Johnson gathered his team for game balls and his trademark “Good Better Best” chant. But this time, there was a little extra edge in the room. How could there not be after beating your biggest rival and slaying the proverbial dragon in a historic comeback?
“F— the Packers! F— that team! I f—ing hate those guys, man,!” Johnson said, sending the locker room into a frenzy.
Maybe it was his true feelings. Maybe it's a coach doing what he can do get his team extra fired up. Maybe a little bit of both. Either way, fair play.
He went on to hand out game balls to rookie tight end Colton Loveland, edge rusher Montez Sweat, and quarterback Caleb Williams — who promptly gave his ball back to Johnson in recognition of his first playoff win as a head coach.
It was pure joy in Chicago. In Green Bay, not so much.
Some Packers fans, a few national pundits, and the usual Bears detractors took offense to Johnson's words and actions. Even some bitter Detroit Lions fans — watching from home while their team takes an early vacation to Cancun — found time to clutch their pearls.
It's just noise. And neither Johnson nor the Bears seemed remotely concerned.
When asked during Monday's press conference about the locker room comments and drive-by handshake, Johnson didn’t back down.
“This is a rivalry,” he said. “The city of Chicago, Green Bay — it needs to be a rivalry. I don't like that team. George [McCaskey] and I have talked and we're on the same page."
Exactly. It is, at least a little bit, personal.
This isn’t about hating Matt LaFleur as a person. It’s about hating the Packers. And by extension, hating the man standing on the other sideline trying to end your season. That’s how rivalries are supposed to work — with grudges, tension, and emotion that spills over. There's no time for niceties when you've got an entire city counting on you.
Matt Eberflus never understood that. He sat courtside at a Chicago Bulls game with LaFleur in Milwaukee, smiling and laughing like they were old friends. As if the annual meetings between the Bears and Packers were just friendly exhibitions between pals.
I’ve seen more animosity at my annual turkey bowl with Hometown friends every Thanksgiving.
Eberflus didn’t get what this job means. He didn’t get the fan base. He didn’t get the weight of this rivalry in Chicago. That lack of understanding, and lack of fire, is why he’s already been outed as the defensive coordinator in Dallas.
Ben Johnson gets it. And that’s why the Bears are hosting another playoff game next weekend.
Chicago has now won three of its last four against Green Bay — a stretch that would have felt unthinkable not long ago. Add in that five straight meetings have been decided on the final play, the tension on the field, and the chaos in the locker rooms, and it’s impossible to deny it anymore.
The Bears–Packers rivalry is back.
And it’s back because Ben Johnson brought it back.
I’ve long said that we'll know when the Bears have the right coach and the right quarterback based on how they play against Green Bay. And as Caleb Williams declared after the game, they’re here — and they’re not going anywhere.