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Rivals Ben Johnson, Matt LaFleur Meet for Icy Handshake After Bears End Packers’ Season

If you blinked, you might have missed the postgame handshake between LaFleur and Johnson.

Tim Capurso

Safe to say there's no love lost between Johnson and LaFleur.
Safe to say there's no love lost between Johnson and LaFleur. / Prime Video
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If you blinked, you might have missed the postgame handshake between Bears coach Ben Johnson and his Packers counterpart Matt LaFleur in the aftermath of the Bears' stunning come-from-behind win over the Packers in the wild-card round on Saturday night.

The Bears erased a 21–6 fourth quarter deficit and stormed back to stun the Packers, resulting in a midfield encounter between Johnson and LaFleur, the rival coaches who aren't exactly big fans of each other, to put it mildly.

Those not-so-warm-and-fuzzy feelings were on full display in the form of an icy handshake that lasted approximately 1.3 seconds and saw a stone-faced LaFleur say “good job” to Johnson, who fleetingly shook the Packers coach's hand as he ran past him.

How about a look from another angle?

Why do Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur not get along?

While it's not exactly clear what prompted the comment, any animosity between LaFleur and Johnson can be traced back to the latter's introductory press conference as Bears head coach a year ago. Johnson, while heaping praise on fellow NFC North coaches Dan Campbell and Kevin O'Connell, then took a jab at LaFleur and the Packers in a quote that has picked up a life of its own.

“...And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year,” Johnson said with a smirk.

The comment created plenty of headlines when the Packers and Bears met in the regular season, which saw the two storied franchises split the two games. But Johnson's Bears won the grudge match in thrilling fashion, giving him his second victory against LaFleur and the Packers this season.

The Packers-Bears rivalry looks to be as strong as ever.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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