Temperatures stayed frigid as Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur met briefly after Saturday’s Wild Card game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.
The contest’s finish was fittingly wild. The Bears came back from down 18 points at halftime to win 31-27.
But before all that, Johnson looked stressed out of his mind whenever the Amazon Prime broadcast showed the Bears coach on the sidelines in the first half. Fans even roasted Johnson for making some questionable decisions that put Chicago in a huge hole early.
The first-half turmoil only made the postgame celebration sweeter for Johnson, who was fired up once the clock hit zero.
PURE JOY FROM BEN JOHNSON ‼️ pic.twitter.com/vdBXytq75H
— NFL (@NFL) January 11, 2026
Johnson, however, pushed back the adrenaline for a brief moment as he met LaFleur in the middle of Soldier Field. The two somehow managed to top their last icy handshake with an even colder one on a sub-zero Saturday night in Chicago.
Quick handshake between Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur 👀
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 11, 2026
(📺 Prime) pic.twitter.com/qYSKlSG5bK
Here’s another angle in slow motion that shows just how brief the two head coaches touched hands.
This Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur postgame handshake is everything.
— Dave (@davebfr) January 11, 2026
These two hate eachotherpic.twitter.com/zjYkJU21xY
There was little love lost between the two after their Wild Card clash. The animosity between the two was palpable during the handshake.
In January, Johnson turned heads when he claimed that he “enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year” as a reason for taking a Bears job that kept him in the NFC North. LaFleur was reportedly caught off guard by Johnson’s comments, as the two are not said to be close friends.
LaFleur could have been the one with bragging rights over Johnson for the rest of the year had it not been for Packers kicker Brandon McManus’ second-half meltdown.
