According to reports, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson is disliked by Green Bay Packers tactician Matt LaFleur and his close ones. On Saturday, Jan. 10, coach Johnson and the rest of his 2025-26 Bears squad faced coach LaFleur’s Packers in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs matchup at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
On Tuesday, Jan. 13, famous sports analyst Stephen A. Smith was featured in a video uploaded by football reporter Dov Kleiman to his X/Twitter account, showing a recent episode of Smith’s “First Take” show on ESPN. In the clip, Smith claimed that he heard from legitimate sources that LaFleur and the rest of his camp indeed hate Johnson and that they can’t stand his behavior.
“ It’s bad enough where friends of Matt LaFleur around the league, who will remain nameless, can’t stand Ben Johnson because of the feelings and the treatment they know he has towards Matt LaFleur. So the point that I’m telling you this is me, I ain’t giving you an opinion, I’m telling you what I was told,” Smith shared.
All of these developments came after Johnson and company defeated LaFleur and the Packers, 31-27, to advance into the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Chicago will next square off against coach Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Jan. 18, still on their home pitch. Meanwhile, Green Bay finished its year with an overall record of 9-7-1 and as the second seed in the NFC North.
Ben Johnson And Matt LaFleur Had A Quick Interaction After Their NFL Playoff Matchup
After the aforementioned victory by the Chicago Bears against the Green Bay Packers, a moment between coach Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur has gone viral. This is because several fans, both on social media and in the stadium itself, caught Johnson giving LaFleur a swift handshake before running to his players to celebrate.
The many camera angles showed that LaFleur was blindsided by the unsportsmanlike act.
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