Matt LaFleur didn’t need a microphone to answer Ben Johnson. He let the Packers handle that part on the field.
After a week built around Johnson’s pointed words and Chicago’s own swagger, Green Bay rolled into Sunday and buried the Bears 31-7. The Packers moved to 3-2, while Chicago slid to the bottom of the NFC North. And if the Bears were looking for a verbal back-and-forth from LaFleur, they didn’t get one.
“Because this game is about players, and so we’ll keep it about the players,” LaFleur said last Monday when asked about Johnson’s trash talk. “I’m not the one out there playing. I think that’s always been my mentality, and we’re going to keep it about those guys.”
That restraint was not exactly greeted with universal applause. Johnson had already introduced himself as Chicago’s head coach by saying he “enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year,” and wide receiver Luther Burden piled on by saying he and his teammates wanted to “beat them real bad and make them quit.” Even the betting market leaned Chicago’s way, with the Bears entering as road favorites despite Tyson Bagent starting for the injured Caleb Williams.
LaFleur stayed above it all in public, but the game plan told a different story.
“I love the rivalry,” LaFleur said. “It’s awesome.
It’s great. It’s intense.
You can feel it on game day. You can feel it throughout the course of the week.
And also the significance. They’re the defending North champs.
What a great opportunity, great challenge for us in our home stadium to play against the defending champs.”
On Sunday, Green Bay treated Chicago’s secondary like a target it had already identified and judged vulnerable. According to Pro Football Focus, Jordan Love threw eight passes of 20 air yards or more, his most in a game so far in 2026.
That number doesn’t even include the shots to J. Michael Sturdivant that were wiped out by penalties.
Of the deep balls that counted, Love completed six for 258 yards. That alone outpaced the Bears’ total offense, which finished at 246 yards.
The Packers doubled down as soon as the second half began. Christian Watson opened the stretch with a 31-yard catch over the middle, exploiting Chicago’s Cover 2.
Four plays later, Green Bay was still hunting downfield. Love fired another sideline shot to Watson that drew no defensive pass interference call.
A touchdown to Sturdivant came off the board because of offensive pass interference. Then Watson finished the sequence by climbing over rookie safety Dillon Thieneman for a 53-yard touchdown.
Green Bay’s passing attack was hitting on all cylinders, and the supporting cast made sure it didn’t stop with Watson. Matthew Golden turned in the biggest game of his career, setting a new personal high with 123 receiving yards, matching his best with six catches, and adding a two-point conversion.
Tucker Kraft also shook off a quiet stretch, catching all five of his targets for 64 yards. His biggest gain came on a 46-yard play from the Packers’ “Y throwback” concept, the same play-action look Kyle Shanahan often uses for George Kittle.
In the end, this was LaFleur’s response: no quotes, no drama, just a detailed dismantling. The Packers’ coach didn’t take Johnson’s bait, but his team made sure the message was clear anyway.
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