The first head coach, when he was hired, encouraged the Packers, saying in his introductory news conference that he “enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year” with the Lions.
With Chicago having authored two epic comebacks in its last two games against the Pack, Johnson can still use this line. The win over Green Bay in Week 16 and the Wild Card round marked the first time Chicago has beaten its rival in back-to-back series since 2007, when Lovie Smith ran the show.
Since then, Chicago has turned in the wind, going from failed coach to failed coach. Marc Trestman begot John Fox, then Matt Nagy, then the Matt Eberflus disaster. Johnson has breathed life into the Bears offense, the fan base and the rivalry with their neighbors to the north.
There’s clearly no love lost between Johnson and LaFleur, whose three postgame handshakes combined faster than one hiccup.
On Saturday night in the locker room, Johnson shouted “F— the Packers! F— the Packers!” as part of his postgame speech, shared by the team’s social media team.
Johnson continued to lean toward it Monday.
“Like I said before, there’s a rivalry between these two teams, something I’m very familiar with and a part of,” he said. “I mean, I just… I don’t like this team. So, [owner] George [McCaskey] and I have spoken, and we are on the same page.”
They’re on the same page, and a one-sided rivalry is finally coming back to life.