Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Ben Johnson will have less than a two week span during the 2025 season to accomplish a boastful goal he shared during his first day on the job

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated May 19, 2025 11:38 AM ET

Last week, the Chicago Bears released the full 2025 schedule, including the preseason slate, and it's going to be a daunting 17-game season, but we already knew that going into the schedule release.

What we didn't know was which games would be on primetime, when head coach Ben Johnson would return to Detroit, and other key dates.

Another thing fans were interested to see was when the Chicago Bears would face off against the Green Bay Packers, with yet another new chapter set to begin in the league's oldest rivalry.

Bears set to face Packers twice in a span of 13 days

The 2025 edition of the Bears-Packers rivalry will start in Week 14 at Lambeau Field with the Bears looking to steal a second consecutive road victory against the bitter rivals. Then, 13 days later, the Packers will arrive at Soldier Field in Week 16, part of a Saturday NFL double-header.

Having such a short gap between two divisional games is surprising. For context, the two games against the Minnesota Vikings are in Week 1 and Week 11 while the two against the Detroit Lions are in Week 2 and Week 18.

However, such a short span will give Bears' head coach a quick turnaround to potentially accomplish something he boastfully claimed during his introductory press conference after being hired by Chicago.

"I know this is the toughest division in football right now, there's three teams that made the playoffs this year," Johnson explained back in January. "I've got tremendous respect for the coaches and players in this league, having competed against them for the last six years. Dan Campbell, Kevin O'Connell, and to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Preme Sports (@nflpreme)

The shot at the Packers' head coach had some truth to it. Johnson previously served as the Lions' offensive coordinator and Detroit swept Green Bay in two of the last three seasons. Yet, for the Bears, that's a hard thing for the team to accomplish. The last time Chicago swept a season series against the Packers was in 2007.

In fact, since LaFleur was hired by Green Bay, the Bears are 1-11 against the Packers with the only win coming in the last meeting back in Week 18 of the 2024 season.

When he was finally asked out Johnson's comments, LaFleur downplayed the competitive banter.

"I'm sure he's playing to the fans a little bit," LaFleur said. "It is what it is. I'm not going to lose too much sleep over that."

Internally, LaFleur likely feels different and is keeping those mental receipts ready for those Week 14 and Week 16 matchups, which will be huge late season divisional games for two teams looking to reach the playoffs.

Overall, it's just added even more excitement for these two games, and we won't have to wait that long in between to see who comes out on top in the 2025 series.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: