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Recently, the Chicago Bears took a step into the future by hiring Ben Johnson to be the franchise’s next head coach. Johnson was formerly the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, who boasted the best offense in the league this season, and the hope is that he will be able to help guide Caleb Williams to becoming the generationally talented superstar Bears fans hoped they were getting last April.
Johnson has already made a number of eyebrow-raising comments during his first few days in the Windy City, and that continued on Wednesday with a not-so-veiled shot at the NFC North rival Green Bay Packers, via the Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team on X, formerly Twitter.
“Dan Campbell, Kevin O’Connell, you talk about two guys that are up for Coach of the Year awards as the season ends here,” said Johnson discussing his competition in the division. “And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”
Beating Matt LaFleur is not something that the Bears have done very often over the years, and Ben Johnson is hoping that his expertise in that department will come in handy this season.
This year, the NFC North was one of the most loaded divisions in recent NFL history, as the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings all won 12-plus games and made the playoffs. For a while, it looked like the Bears were also going to be in that mix after a 4-2 start, but things quickly fell back down to Earth for the Bears.
It should be noted that none of the three NFC North teams who made the playoffs won a game when they got there, perhaps calling into question just how impressive the season truly was for the division.
Still, for a first-time head coach in Johnson, it’s probably not the competition you’d ideally like to be facing in your first year.
In any case, the Bears will now turn their attention ahead to the NFL Draft, which is slated to take place in April from Green Bay.
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