Ben Johnson knew what he had to do from the moment he arrived as the new Chicago Bears head coach. If he wanted to ignite a fanbase that had been sleepwalking for the past 15 years, he had to poke the bear. Pun very much intended. That meant needling the Green Bay Packers, who’d owned the rivalry for the better part of 30 years, declaring his personal joy at beating their head coach, Matt LaFleur, twice a year. It was the first open shot any Bears head coach had dared to fire at Green Bay since Lovie Smith’s introductory press conference in 2004.
At first, Packers fans brushed it off as a young coach having bluster. He would soon learn his place. That mentality changed in a big way after the Bears beat the Packers not once but twice in a span of a few weeks, capped by an epic comeback in the wild card round. Now those same fans can’t stand Johnson, calling him every name in the book, and some invented new ones. However, Alex “Ike” Eichstaedt, host of the IKE Packers Podcast, had a moment of honesty. He believes Packers fans are lying to themselves about the real reason they hate Johnson.
Packers fans knew what Ben Johnson would become.
They could sense it long before he became a head coach. His offenses dominated Green Bay during his three years as Detroit’s offensive coordinator. He looked every bit like that next Sean Payton or Sean McVay. A wizard offensive coach who would elevate any team he took over from the outset. The fact that he went to the Chicago Bears must’ve made Packer fans sick to their stomachs. It would’ve been much like how Bears fans probably felt when Mike Holmgren left San Francisco after winning two Super Bowls to take over Green Bay.
Everybody knew Holmgren was destined for success. It was the same with Kyle Shanahan in 2017. The Bears had a chance to pivot away from John Fox and bring in the highly successful offensive coordinator. They chose to stick with Fox, and Shanahan went to San Francisco. Now Green Bay is feeling much the same about Ben Johnson. For all his playoff trips, Matt LaFleur has little to show for them. Worse still, the division is getting tougher, and their grip on the crown has slipped. If the Bears continue adding quality talent to the roster, this won’t be an era of the rivalry Green Bay can shrug off.
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