GREEN BAY, Wis. — No one on the Packers said much publicly when Bears receiver Luther Burden III noted last week that his team wanted to “beat them real bad and make them quit.”
That changed after Sunday’s game.
Veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin, who was traded to the Packers in the offseason and wasn’t part of the team that collapsed at Soldier Field in last season’s NFC wild-card playoff loss to Chicago, had some strong words for Burden — even if he didn’t mention him by name– after the Packers’ 31-7 win over the Bears at Lambeau Field.
“You got guys that never really made a real play in this league talkin’ bout making somebody quit,” Franklin said. “That’s weird. We don’t do that. He quit today, by the way. He ain’t wanna play anymore.”
Burden, who had six catches for 47 yards while the Bears played with Tyson Bagent at quarterback in place of the injured Caleb Williams, did not speak with reporters after the game.
“I mean, we definitely flipped that on their head,” Packers receiver Christian Watson said. “But we’re focused on us, but yeah, we knew what it was going to be, and we did it.”
The win pulled the Packers (3-2) even with the Bears in the NFC North, but both teams trail the first-place Vikings (5-0). The rematch in Chicago is more than two months away, on Christmas Day, but the first meeting won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Franklin and others in the victorious locker room said coach Matt LaFleur tried to keep the focus internal and not about what was said by others. However, based on LaFleur’s aggressive play calls – green-lighting quarterback Jordan Love to take deep shot after deep shot — there might have been more to it.
“Man, I feel like since I been here, it’s just been a bunch of them saying a whole bunch of stuff about us, them making a whole bunch of comments about us, doing a whole bunch of stuff about us and only thing we’ve been doing is focusing on being the best version of ourselves,” Franklin said. “And that’s the message that Coach LaFleur been preaching, just being the best versions of ourselves. It’s not about them. It’s about us. And we see all the little weird stuff they be doing in the media and all the different stuff they be saying.”
LaFleur set the tone early and often. From a flea-flicker to tight end Tucker Kraft on the first offensive play to getting the ball to Watson (six catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns) and Matthew Golden (six catches for 123 yards) as much as possible, the Packers kept going deep.
Love had five completions that went at least 30 yards in the same game, tying Ben Roethlisberger as the only players with that many 30-plus air-yard completions in a game since ESPN began tracking it in 2006. Love was also the first Packer since Brett Favre in 2003 with four or more completions of at least 40 yards in a game.
“Yeah, this game is personal,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “I wouldn’t expect them to lay down just because they’re up. And for us, we got to fight back. Just as men, at some point, you’ve just got to play for pride and the name on the front and the back. We just got to keep fighting.”
Though the game was relatively clean, it appeared to get chippy when Bears kicker Cairo Santos tried to trip Golden on the sideline. After a punt return that Golden took out of bounds in front of the Bears’ bench, Santos stuck out his leg as Golden was trying to get back to the field.
When asked if Santos tried to trip him, Golden said: “Yeah, he did. He did. But it’s all good. It’s all good. I ain’t got nothing to say to it.”
LaFleur, meanwhile, won his first 11 games over the Bears as Packers coach. Bears counterpart Ben Johnson stoked the rivalry as soon as he got the job in 2025, saying he enjoyed beating LaFleur twice a year when he was the Lions’ offensive coordinator. The Bears won two of three meetings last year, including the playoffs, after which Johnson exclaimed in the locker room, “F— the Packers.”
LaFleur has never fired back at Johnson and said this past week that part of the reason he wouldn’t engage is that the game is supposed to be about the players.
“Coach Matt keeps it professional, man,” Packers center Sean Rhyan said. “And I’ve got to give it to him, man, because as much as you probably want to … he keeps it professional, and he handles it during the game, and I felt that today.”
LaFleur’s players handled the rest.
“Here’s what I’ll tell you: I think we all are moving in the same direction, and we all got each other’s backs,” LaFleur said. “Players-coaches, coaches-players, players-players, and that’s what great teams do. That is the essence of team is that you have each other’s backs, that you’re willing to stick together, not point fingers in times of adversity, and just keep moving forward, and really try to be reflective of, ‘What I can do as an individual to be better for our team.’ And just keep bringing great positive energy and encouraging one another.
“I love that locker room. I love those guys. I love our staff, and we just got to keep moving forward. It was one game. It was a good game today, but it’s one game. And so we’ve got to move on to the next game.”
ESPN’s Courtney Cronin contributed to this report.
