Bears-Packers Rivalry Stoked by Real Dislike Ahead of Week 5 Game

This doesn't need to be written, but the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers don't like each other at all. 

That's exactly how this historic rivalry should be. 

The hatred has intensified since Ben Johnson entered the equation last season. During his introductory press conference as the Bears' head coach, Johnson said he enjoyed beating Packers head coach Matt LaFleur twice a year. 

Fast forward to the 2026 season NFL season and Johnson did come away with two victories over LaFleur's Packers -- defeating Green Bay twice at Soldier Field, with the latest one occurring in the wild-card round after the Bears erased a 21-3 deficit at half time to end their NFC North rival's season. 

Johnson gave LaFleur the quickest of handshakes and then cursed out the Packers in the postgame locker room.

"F--- the Packers," Johnson said. "F--- them. F---ing hate those guys."

If you have any attachment to this historic rivalry, it's hard to forget those moments. That goes for the players as well. 

Packers left tackle Jordan Morgan spoke with local reporters on Wednesday and was asked about Johnson's postgame locker room speech and if it annoys people. 

"Yeah. I mean, he's dissing us," Morgan said, via the Athletic's Matt Schneidman. "He's dissing the Packers. A lot of people in here, I'm pretty sure, take that to heart. And we got a chance to prove to everybody on Sunday that we the best team."

Packers safety Evan Williams had this to say ahead of the Week 5 matchup at Lambeau Field on Sunday. 

"It's easy to have a camera in front of you and say whatever you want," Williams said, via the Athletic's Matt Schneidman. That's not going to stop you from getting hit in the mouth on any given Sunday ... it's great for the news articles and all that, but at the end of the day, it's not going to show up on Sunday. It's not going to save you."

There will be some newcomers playing for the first time in this rivalry. The Packers traded for linebacker Zaire Franklin in March, and the veteran can see the distain that both franchises have for one another. 

'It's a lot of bad blood, a lot of bad blood," Franklin said, via NBC 26's Kelly Hallinan. "A lot of genuine dislike, which is a little different than nowadays. You know, nowadays, most rivalries are just on social media and [the] offseason you're hanging out. I don't think nobody wanna hang out with the Bears in the offseason. I think it's a real issue between both sides and the beautiful part of it is we got nothing but space and opportunity to figure it out, so looking forward to it."

Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent is also looking forward to his opportunity to start against Green Bay, making this the first time the 26-year-old will play against the Packers. 

“I think you go into each week the exact same as far as; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday getting the plan down, being locked in, taking it extremely seriously," Bagent said. "But to say that this is just like any game just wouldn't be true. It's one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. Easy for the fans to get up for, easy for us to get up for. It'll certainly be a different feel out there and that's why it's so important that we put in the amount of work that we need to this week, get acclimated in a smart way but also in a hurry so we can have our best foot forward going into this weekend.”