The Packers didn’t just beat the Bears in Week 5 - they made sure the message landed, too.
Green Bay’s 31-7 rout came with a little extra edge after months of anticipation, and veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin made that plain in the locker room when he took aim at Chicago’s talking points.
“They do a whole lot of weird stuff. Since I been here, they do a whole lot of stuff that they worried about us.
We worried about ourselves. Hopefully they learn to stop dissing us.
Real talk,” Franklin said in the locker room (h/t Matt Scheidman).
For Green Bay, the win carried more than divisional bragging rights. The Packers had this game circled for a while, still carrying the sting of the Bears’ comeback win in the Wild Card round that ended their season. With Micah Parsons out, they still found a way to take control and turn the matchup into a statement.
The postgame tone matched the performance. Matt LaFleur didn’t need to make it a bigger scene after the final whistle, and he didn’t even address Ben Johnson. But inside the locker room, the mood suggested this one meant plenty.
It also came with more encouraging signs for the Packers on the field. The pass rush has stayed afloat without Parsons, and Lukas Van Ness has been playing the best football of his career. The team also appears to have uncovered something in Dani Dennis-Sutton, who may have introduced himself to the wider audience in Week 5.
On offense, Matthew Golden and Christian Watson are building a case as a serious receiver duo, while Jordan Love looked like himself again with time to work and room to operate in the pocket.
Sometimes one win is enough to reset everything. When that win comes against a division rival that beat you last season, and against a coach who had already become a target in town, it hits even harder.
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Packers Rookie Adds New Fuel To Bears Rivalry After Blowout
The buildup to Packers-Bears had already taken on an edge before kickoff, and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton helped underline just how personal it felt in Green Bays locker room. Speaking ahead of the game, he acknowledged the intensity of the rivalry and the tension surrounding the coaching staffs, while making it clear he was not going to repeat the private details of those conversations.
What mattered most, of course, was the response on the field. Green Bay backed up the chatter with a 31-7 win, answering remarks from Bears coach Ben Johnson in a way that fit the rivalrys long memory and short fuse, even if Dennis-Sutton left the exact contents of those coach-to-coach exchanges in-house. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans May Need To Wait Longer For Micah Parsons
Micah Parsons return remains on hold as the Packers move through another week without their pass-rush centerpiece, and the timing is starting to make the calendar itself part of the story. Green Bay had hoped to get its former Cowboys star back sometime in October as he continues recovering from a torn ACL, but the first chance to see him against Dallas in Week 6 now appears to be off the table.
Parsons arrived in Green Bay after being traded from Dallas in 2025 and quickly became the clubs sack leader before the injury stopped his momentum. For a defense that has already felt the absence, the bigger question is how long the wait will last, because the comeback window may be pushing deeper into the fall than anyone around the team wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Suddenly Have A D-Line Decision That Could Matter Fast
The Packers came out of Week 5 looking sturdy up front after holding the Bears to seven points and 246 yards, but the injury picture on the defensive line has forced the front office to keep moving. With Javon Hargrave done for the season, Green Bay is suddenly shopping for depth at a spot that can change quickly, especially with Dallas and Detroit next on the schedule.
One of the first steps came with a workout for former Patriots defensive tackle Isaiah Iton, along with a physical as the Packers sort through their options. It is the kind of early-season roster tweak that can seem minor in the moment, but for a defense trying to stay intact through a tougher stretch, the timing makes the decision worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]