Rich’s Message to Packers Fans in Wake of Green Bay’s Week 5 Beatdown of the Bears

Rich has a message for every Packers fan who was ready to burn it all down in September: take a breath.

"I've just been around the block and I know a September record is not indicative of your January record," Rich said on the show. "There's a lot of football to be played."

The evidence arrived at Lambeau Field. Green Bay's season opened with a brutal Monday night loss at home to Atlanta, the kind of home opener that sends a fan base straight to the call-in lines. Then came a game where, as Rich put it, "they did not lose to Jayden Daniels, but they came awful close."

So pour one out, Rich said, for the Packers fan who wanted to get rid of Matt LaFleur. The Bears showed up in Green Bay as favorites, even with a backup quarterback, a point Seth Rollins smugly made on the Friday show. It was supposed to go the other way. Instead the Packers smoked them, handing Ben Johnson his worst loss as Chicago's coach since the Lions put a 50-burger on the Bears in his first road division game.

Rich was careful not to turn this into a Bears obituary. Chicago started 0-2 and had been "nothing short of consistently terrific" ever since. Just not with Tyson Bagent. Not on this day.

What Rich saw instead was a coach making a point. He compared LaFleur to Hans Gruber telling his crew to hit the car again, except this time the message was for Jordan Love. Hit Christian Watson again. Hit Matthew Golden again. Go up top again. It was the largest win over the Bears since 2014.

Afterward, Love was asked about Johnson and took the high road. "I love the excitement around the rivalry and all that, and certainly it weighs in the back of your mind how last season ended a little bit," Love said. "But it's still about us and what we do moving forward."

Rich translated: it's not about me and Ben, it's about me throwing over and over again because they couldn't stop it. "That's his way of saying scoreboard," he said.

Then there's Watson. Six catches, 143 receiving yards, two touchdowns. That gives him six receiving touchdowns on the season, tied with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the most in the NFL. "He's doing JSN things," Rich said. "He's doing offensive player of the year things." The last Packer with that many touchdown catches through five games was Jordy Nelson, who had six in 2017 with Aaron Rodgers at the top of his game.

The defense brought its own receipts. Xavier McKinney picked off two passes, the first Packer to do it since Rudy Ford against the Cowboys four years ago. McKinney has 13 interceptions since joining Green Bay in 2024, the most in the NFL in that span. So pour another one out, Rich said, for anyone who wanted Gutekunst gone too.

Even the run game showed up. The Packers ended a four-game streak without a rushing touchdown when MarShawn Lloyd scored and jumped into the stands.

Green Bay sits at 3-2, right behind the Vikings, with the Cowboys coming to town on Sunday Night Football. Rich isn't promising peaches and cream from here. He's just reminding everyone why you never jump ship in September.

"That's why you just take a beat, take a breath," Rich said. "Matt LaFleur's an excellent coach."