Windy City Gridiron
Ben Johnson couldn’t help but fire the first jab in what could become a bi-annual fixture we see for a bit between his Chicago Bears and Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers.
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this [division],” Johnson said in January while being introduced as the Bears’ head coach. “I’ve been competing against them for the last six years.
“And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”
Not because he knows LaFleur well or had any prior run-ins with him, either. Johnson just threw that out there for the love of the game.
LaFleur, for his part, hasn’t returned fire. But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about what Johnson said all those months ago.
“Anytime I’m lacking motivation, I think about that, and it usually gets me over the jump,” LaFleur told Barstool’s Pardon My Take this week.
On one hand, what the two coaches say doesn’t matter that much, aside from hamming it up for two fanbases who can’t stop talking trash to one another. They’ll be judged by how their teams do on the field—and how their decisions drive the outcome.
But make no mistake about it: coaches have egos, too. They’re competitive. They’re, quite frankly, a little touched in the head. How couldn’t you be if you decide to coach football for a living? One wonders what that postgame handshake will look like after Sunday’s first meeting, in particular.
Both of them want to prove whose offense is best, whose quarterback has the tools to run this division for years to come, whose team is tougher. Both have been complimentary of the other’s team before Sunday’s game, but make no mistake: the killer intent is there. It’s in the meeting rooms, on the practice field, and (soon) the tundra of Lambeau Field this weekend.
Unlike years past, though, the Bears have a key advantage. Their current coach isn’t coming in completely unfamiliar with this rivalry or what the intensity of NFC North football looks like. He’s come into his own in this division, coaching against both the Bears and Packers for six years on Detroit’s staff. During his three-year tenure as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, he only saw his team lose to LaFleur’s Packers once.
He’s not trying to hear about Bears’ fans worries about the Packers or any lingering inferiority complex the franchise has about them. He has been putting belt to Green Bay’s backside for three years. You think he’s going to let his team come into Sunday’s game with any other mentality than that?
Matt LaFleur is a competitive man, no doubt, and he’s going to have his team fired up to protect their house this weekend.
Ben Johnson, on the other hand, is probably pacing his office at this very moment, muttering to himself about how he’d eat LaFleur’s liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
If the Packers beat the Bears...
