The head coaches of the NFL’s most heated rivals barely broke stride in the moments after Sunday’s 28-21 Packers win at Lambeau Field, slowing their jogs to three quick walking steps to give each other a passing handshake.
The Bears’ Ben Johnson and the Packers’ Matt LaFleur said they’d see each other in two weeks at Soldier Field.
What was left unsaid was what already stoked the rivalry — Johnson declared in January that he enjoyed beating LaFleur twice a year as an assistant coach, a shot that LaFleur found odd coming from someone he didn’t know well.
Monday, Johnson claimed his postgame greeting was no different than any other.
“That feels like every handshake I have at the end of a game,” he said Monday.
That’s not the case — he’s lingered longer with other head coaching counterparts this season. LaFleur tried to downplay the quick exchange, too, saying Sunday night that “it was a quick handshake, and we’ll see them again in two weeks.” He said he took no extra satisfaction in beating Johnson because of his comments.
That seems hard to believe —in Chicago, Green Bay and around the NFL. On the Fox broadcast, analyst Tom Brady said the handshake was “as icy as the temperature” at Lambeau Field.
“Both teams had to go out and buy extra bulletin boards going into the week,” Brady said. “There was a lot of material both ways. You’ve got coaches talking smack. It’s just the way it’s gonna go. Those two young coaches are going to be in these programs for a while.”
The Bears can only hope. LaFleur is only in his seventh season, but has already shaken hands with four different Bears head coaches — Matt Nagy, Matt Eberflus, Thomas Brown and Johnson. While the others offered typical Bears platitudes about wanting to beat their Packers, none targeted their counterparts Johnson’s specificity. Before taking a shot at LaFleur in January, he praised his other two NFC North rivals, Dan Campbell and Kevin O’Connell, as “two guys who are up for coach of the year.”
In April, LaFleur joked to ESPN’s Pat McAfee that the Bears “got a good football coach — as he said himself.” The football world has since taken notice of Johnson’s confidence —the Bears coach ripping off his shirt to celebrate a win against the Eagles went viral last week.
The coaches weren’t the only ones inside Lambeau Field who were quick to circle the rematch. Kickoff for the Saturday, Dec. 20 game at Soldier Field will come 13 days — almost to the minute — from the end of Sunday’s game.
“We’ll have a chance to get at ‘em again in two weeks,” right tackle Darnell Wright said.
The Bears entered Lambeau Field as the top team in the NFC. Beating the Packers at Soldier Field, though, could be what gets the Bears into the playoffs.
The team considers 11 wins to be the entry point for a postseason berth. Presuming the Bears handle the three-win Browns on Sunday at the Lakefront, they will be 10-4 with three games to play — starting with the home game against their rivals.
Bears players were quick to say that they can’t overlook the Browns — despite their 3-12 record — but it’s clear the Packers game has already cast its shadow.
“Our focus is getting into the tournament,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “To do that, it looks like we’ll probably need at least two [more wins] to feel good about where we’re at …
“Our focus will be (on the Browns). I know how I feel about it — I’m excited to get these guys at home again in a few weeks.”
LaFleur on this: “It was a quick handshake, and we’ll see them again in 2 weeks.”
When asked if there was personal satisfaction after what Ben Johnson said about beating him 2x a year, LaFleur said: “Absolutely not. It’s Packers-Bears.”
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) December 8, 2025
The Packers’ win on Sunday puts them in the driver’s seat to win the NFC North, though their matchup Sunday in Denver is a tougher test than what the Bears will face. The Bears hold the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC. They have a 64% chance of making the postseason, per NFL Next Gen Stats. The Lions sit eighth — and travel to the Rams, the top seed in the NFC, next week.
The Bears left Sunday’s game feeling as though there wasn’t as much distance between the two rivals as a potential playoff bracket would indicate. Johnson, though, said it “didn’t take that game for me to know” who the Bears were.
“I know we’re a physical unit,” Johnson said. “We’re resilient. I know that we played hard for each other for 60 minutes. And I think we’re going to make things very interesting when it’s close in the fourth quarter each and every week.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t come through with the win there … but I feel really confident in our group finding a way to pull through these games.”
The Bears are used to winning games in the final minutes. Linebacker D’Marco Jackson didn’t find solace in playing the Packers close.
“We didn’t get the job done,” he said. “I’m still frustrated with that game. I don’t think anyone needs to take this as a moral victory.
“When we look at the scoreboard, we lost. We ain’t where we want to be. There ain’t no moral victories.”
The Bears will have a second chance for a rivalry victory soon enough. When the coaches meet at midfield afterward, the NFL world will be watching.
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