Bears facing heavy criticism ahead of Packers showdown

The Chicago Bears are set for a massive showdown against the arch-rival Green Bay Packers on Saturday night in the NFC Wild Card round of the playoffs.

After pulling off a shocking comeback victory just a few short weeks ago at Soldier Field, the Bears are hoping to send the Packers home for the season. However, the reality of the situation is that Green Bay beat Chicago in the first regular season meeting and should have defeated the Bears again in the second regular season matchup. Chicago will need to play much better this time around.

That being said, the Bears have made an impressive run this season. They enter the playoffs as the NFC North champions and the No. 2 seed in the conference playoff picture.

However, there are some concerns surrounding how Chicago is entering this matchup. Talk about the Super Bowl has already begun. That isn’t something that analysts are super pleased about regarding the young Bears team.

Former NFL head coach Eric Mangini did not like hearing the Super Bowl talk. He spoke out with some criticism for Chicago leading up to facing the Packers.

“It’s terrible and it’s flawed. The most important thing is what’s in front of you,” Mangini said. “It’s that meeting, it’s that practice, it’s that game. It’s not 5 weeks from now. That’s what kills teams.”

Mangini makes a very good point. If the Bears are going to make a run to the Super Bowl, attention to detail and focus are the most important things. The playoffs are a different beast and Chicago already has a lack of postseason experience going against them.

Should the Bears find a way to come through with a statement win over Green Bay, the belief will start rising even more. However, in the playoffs, anything can happen. At the end of the day, regular season success means absolutely nothing when playoff time arrives.

It will be interesting to see how the young Chicago roster fares this weekend. The Packers are going to want revenge after blowing what was a clear-cut victory at Soldier Field in their last meeting with the Bears. Chicago will need to come out strong from the jump to avoid a depressing Wild Card loss to its bitter rival.