Disrespecting the Bears-Packers rivalry

Paying proper respect to the Bears-Packers rivalry is always tricky for newcomers at Halas Hall, most of whom have no idea what it's about. Lovie Smith turned it into a cliche when he said his No. 1 goal was beating the Packers (I'll assume winning the Super Bowl was No. 2) at his introductory news conference.

Future coaches avoided the obvious pandering, until Ben Johnson took it a step further and made it personal at his introductory press conference in January when he punctuated a comment about his respect for the coaches in the division by saying, "And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year."

The sentiment was just playing to the home crowd, but I thought the way he expressed it — as if he were Dan Campbell and not just the offensive coordinator — showed a healthy ego that a guy like Johnson is going to need to thrive at Halas Hall. Coaches don't talk like that — coordinators certainly don't. On the contrary, most coaches go out of their way to avoid sounding like it was a personal victory he was responsible for.

Johnson had no problem with that, which might have been the best indicator of all that day. He had to know that was going to be thrown back in his face this week, and be used as rare bulletin board material for the Packers. (And LaFleur's curt response, "Not really. No." when asked about it at his Monday press conference, seemed to indicate it hasn't been forgotten.) But coaches like that just figure they'll have a team that can back it up, and while the Bears were in no shape to do that in January, they are in December.

For his part, Johnson didn't fan the flames when the subject of his shot at LaFleur was brought up this week. And he also did not address it directly and was not pressed on it.

"It's a big week. We know how important this rivalry is," Johnson said. "So, just wanted to address that."

The only real rivalry discussion awkwardness was provided by a newcomer on the other side — Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons, who seemed to fall into the trap of manufacturing a hate for the Bears that doesn't exist.

"I just don't like 'em, just because ... you know, I just see the disrespect that comes from the Bears," Parsons said. I play for respect. You know how to earn someone's respect ..."

Asked how the Bears have disrespected him, Parsons wasn't much clearer. "Respect is something that you earn. These people want to come here and beat us in our house. ... It's a respect thing."

Whatever. Parsons probably should play a game or two in the rivalry and then address the respect issue. That worked for former Bears defensive tackle Justin Jones when he signed with the Bears in 2022. After playing one game at Lambeau Field, he knew exactly what the Bears-Packers rivalry was all about, and addressed it head-on.

"I feel like we owe them something," Jones said, "because when we played them in Week 2, we left the field and [Packers fans] were saying, 'Bears suck.' I never really understood the rivalry until then. [Since] I left Lambeau Field that second week, I've been waiting for this game."

First-year defensive tackle Justin Jones learned quickly what the Bears-Packers rivalry was all about, as he expressed in this Sun-Times story before the rematch in December, 2022.

As it turned out, it was to no avail. The Bears' defense contained Aaron Rodgers about as well as it ever did — Rodgers completed 18 of 31 passes for a mere 182 yards and one touchdown. But the Packers still rallied from an early 16-3 deficit and broke open a one-point game late to win 28-19.

But with Rodgers gone and Johnson here, Bears fans feel the Bears have their best chance in recent memory to turn the one-sided rivalry in their favor. Come to think of it, Lovie Smith initially made good on his promise to beat the Packers. The Bears, who had lost 18 of their previous 20 games against the Packers, won six of eight in Lovie's first four seasons. It might just be Ben Johnson's turn.

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