Why Bears playing the Packers will benefit them vs the Rams—and maybe beyond

As the reactions to Ben Johnson’s now-infamous handshake with Matt LaFleur and “F— the Packers” postgame chat made its rounds this week, pundits made sure to let us know that it wasn’t just the Packers who were mad about Johnson’s perceived slight toward LaFleur and his team.

It’s the whole crew of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay’s tree—and other coaches around the league that have a relationship with LaFleur—who now have beef with Johnson, too, according to longtime NFL insider Peter Schrager.

To be clear, I don’t care about that, and neither should any Bears fan.

But it did rekindle a thought about Sunday’s upcoming matchup between the Bears and Rams that I had in the aftermath of last weekend’s win over Green Bay.

As the above comments will remind you, LaFleur and McVay are well-acquainted with one another: LaFleur served as offensive coordinator under McVay in 2017 before being poached by Tennessee and later becoming the Packers’ head coach. And before that, LaFleur also served as quarterbacks coach for the 2016 Atlanta Falcons under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. You know, the one that choked away a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl against the Patriots? (Seems like that runs in LaFleur’s blood.)

So, why does that matter?

Because, thanks to playing the Packers twice a year (once already in these playoffs) and—let’s not forget—the San Francisco 49ers, the Bears have gotten one heck of a crash course in the Shanahan offensive style. That bodes well for their contest against the Rams.

Of course, since McVay has been a head coach since 2017 and LaFleur has coached the Packers since 2019, there’s been plenty of time for them to evolve in the specifics of their schemes. None of them are exactly alike in how they approach situations or use their personnel. Just last week, FOX Sports announcer Greg Olsen made sure to point out how much McVay has shifted his offense to fit Matthew Stafford’s skills as a drop-back passer over the years.

But there is certainly some commonality in the roots of their offensive schemes: running the ball heavily and using play-action off of it. The only quarterback in the league to use play-action more than Caleb Williams and the Bears? Matthew Stafford. Had Jordan Love (who’s also top-10) and Brock Purdy not gotten hurt, they wouldn’t have been far behind. (If you combined Purdy and Mac Jones’ PA usage, they’d be top-10 as well.)

Also, just look at the commonality in how the Packers and 49ers attacked the Bears, ripping them apart from the slot in the passing game and establishing the run-heavy in the first halves of games. It’s hard to think the Rams won’t try the same thing with the Bears this weekend.

The plus side: the Rams aren’t that familiar with Ben Johnson’s offense, and Johnson is likely to have a few wrinkles in his scheme for this occasion. (That holds true even though Johnson and the Shanahan tree take advantage of defensive weaknesses in similar ways, like using motions and condensed formations.)

But the Bears and Johnson have seen a lot of this offensive tree, and the minds who make it work.

So it’s highly unlikely McVay will have many major surprises in store for the Bears after all they’ve seen. The only question is whether the Bears can stop them enough times to get the better of them.