Bears coach Ben Johnson offers no
apologies for profane postgame speech
[January 13, 2026]
By ANDREW SELIGMAN
The Chicago Bears were hooting and hollering in the locker room
after rallying late to knock the Green Bay Packers out of the
playoffs on Saturday night.
Coach Ben Johnson made his feelings clear. He repeatedly yelled a
profanity directed at the Packers to start his postgame pep talk.
While the Bears' focus shifts toward a home game against Matthew
Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round on Sunday,
Johnson's comments about the Packers are still getting plenty of
attention. On Monday, he wasn't offering any apologies.
“There’s a rivalry that exists between these two teams, something
that I fully recognize and I’m a part of. And, yeah, I just, I don’t
like that team,” Johnson said.
Chicago and Green Bay have played each other more times than any
other two NFL franchises have in a rivalry that dates to 1921.
Johnson embraced it from the moment the Bears hired him from
Detroit's staff last January. He needled Green Bay's coach in his
introductory news conference when he said, “I kind of enjoyed
beating Matt LaFleur twice a year."
The Bears beat the Packers twice this year, rallying for a 31-27
wild-card victory after the teams split two tight regular-season
games. They've won three of the past five meetings, counting the
postseason, after being dominated for years by Green Bay.
The two coaches, meanwhile, seem to have an icy relationship. Their
postgame handshake on Saturday went viral, with LaFleur extending
his right hand and Johnson briefly touching it before running off.
“This is a rivalry and, city of Chicago, Green Bay, it needs to be a
rivalry," Johnson said.
Packers safety Xavier McKinney praised Johnson as a “hell of a
coach” and called him a “troll.”
“He’s a troll," he said. "So it’s cool. I’m just not a troll. So I
don’t know, that’s just him. But he’s a hell of a coach, though.”
What’s working
Strong finishes. The Bears had a league-leading 103 points in the
fourth quarter and overtime from Weeks 9 to 18 during the regular
season. And it was more of the same against Green Bay.
Chicago outscored the Packers 25-6 in the fourth quarter on the way
to its seventh comeback win. All have come after trailing in the
final two minutes of regulation.
What needs help
Slow starts have been an issue for the Bears this season. And for
the second week in a row, they struggled to get anything going
before the final stretch.
They were shut out by Detroit through three quarters in a 19-16 loss
to close the regular season. And the Green Bay game followed a
similar pattern. The Bears trailed 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 going
into the fourth.
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Chicago Bears' Colston Loveland catches a pass for a two-point
conversion during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff
football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026,
in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)
Stock up
TE Colston Loveland. The first-round draft pick from Michigan had a
terrific playoff debut. He caught eight passes for a career-high 137
yards after combining for 16 receptions and 185 yards in the
previous two games against San Francisco and Detroit.
Loveland led the Bears in receptions (58) and yards (713) during the
regular season. He also tied DJ Moore and Rome Odunze for the team
lead with six touchdown catches.
The Bears pulled off a surprise when they drafted Loveland with the
10th pick. They had far more pressing needs for an offensive tackle
or pass rusher.
“We got a home run with him, and that’s something Coach said the
other day to me," quarterback Caleb Williams said. “We were sitting
in his office and everybody goes back to draft night. Why did we get
Colston Loveland and why did we do this and why did we do that? It’s
Colston Loveland, you know what I mean?”
Stock down
RBs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. Swift and Monangai emerged as
one of the best running back tandems in the NFL, and Chicago
finished third in rushing. But the Bears haven't been able to get
their run game going the past two weeks.
Chicago fell into an early hole against Green Bay and managed 93
yards rushing coming off a season-low 65-yard performance in a loss
to Detroit. Swift had 54 yards and a touchdown on 13 runs in the win
over the Packers, while Monangai finished with 27 yards on eight
carries.
Injuries
The Bears lost LB T.J. Edwards (broken left fibula) and LT Ozzy
Trapilo (knee) likely for the remainder of the season. Edwards was
carted off the field in the second quarter, and Trapilo hopped to
the sideline on Chicago's go-ahead drive near the end of the game.
Key number
18 — The Bears rallied from 18 down, the biggest postseason comeback
in franchise history. It was also the largest playoff comeback in
the NFL since the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars rallied to beat the Los
Angeles Chargers 31-30 in a wild-card game after trailing 27-0.
Next steps
The Bears will try to beat the Rams for the second year in a row,
after a 24-18 win at Soldier Field in Week 4 last season. The only
playoff game between the franchises was in 1950, when the Rams won a
divisional game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
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