The Packers walked into Week 5 with plenty to prove, and they delivered the kind of response that can quiet a lot of noise fast. Green Bay throttled the Bears 31-7 at home, with Jordan Love leading the best offensive showing of the season and Matt LaFleur getting a satisfying rebuttal to all the Ben Johnson buzz.
Chicago had come in on the back of impressive wins over the Eagles and Jets, even without Caleb Williams in the lineup. Johnson’s coaching and leadership had the Bears rolling, and after Green Bay’s uneven start, the matchup carried a whiff of a changing of the guard in the NFC North. Instead, the Packers seized control and never let go.
Love was sharp from the start and finished with the kind of line that makes the whole offense look different: 25 of 31 for 367 yards and two touchdown passes to Christian Watson. The deep ball was there whenever Green Bay’s line gave him time, and the Bears’ pass defense never found an answer.
Watson and Matthew Golden did most of the damage on the perimeter. Watson caught 6 passes for 143 yards, while Golden added 6 receptions for 123 yards. Both receivers consistently got behind Chicago’s secondary and turned the field into a runway.
For LaFleur, the win also pushed back against the chatter surrounding Johnson’s arrival and the idea that Chicago was sprinting ahead while Green Bay was stuck searching for answers. Johnson had made his feelings plain when he said, “I kind of enjoy beating Matt LaFleur twice a year,” but this time it was the Packers who had the last word.
That backdrop made the result even sharper. Chicago had knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs last season in the Wild Card round, and the Bears had also won two of three meetings last year. But the Packers still own the larger run in this rivalry, one that has been tilted their way since the 1990s with Brett Favre and then Aaron Rodgers keeping the pressure on Chicago.
The Bears had even entered the game as a small favorite at Lambeau Field, something that had not happened there since 2006, the year Chicago last went to the Super Bowl. That alone told you how much the perception had shifted before kickoff. By the end, Green Bay had smashed that perception to pieces.
The Packers’ own season had been shaky entering Sunday. They were coming off a 21-point home loss to the Falcons in Week 3, then beat the Jets the following week.
This one, though, felt different. Against a Bears team that had been cast as the NFC North team on the rise, Green Bay played with force and confidence and looked every bit like the superior side.
Johnson’s success as the Lions’ offensive coordinator had turned him into one of the league’s most celebrated young coaches, and his first season in Chicago has mostly lived up to the billing. But the second year has already brought setbacks, including losses to the Vikings and now to LaFleur and the Packers.
This game didn’t just stop the talk for a week. It gave LaFleur and Green Bay exactly what they needed: a clean, emphatic win, and a reminder that the NFC North still runs through them until somebody proves otherwise.
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Packers Suddenly Have A D-Line Decision That Could Matter Fast
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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 🡒]