(AP) – 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.
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 two franchises are meeting in the postseason for the third time. The 1985 Bears beat Los Angeles 24-0 in the NFC championship game on the way to Chicago’s lone Super Bowl title. The Rams won a divisional game in 1950.
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This story has been corrected to show the Bears and Rams are meeting for the third time in the postseason.
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