The Chicago Bears won the NFC North in Ben Johnson’s debut season. It’s the first time Chicago has captured the division title since 2018. The Bears will be making their second playoff appearance in the last seven years when they host the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round.
Johnson expressed confidence in his team, declaring that the Bears are “prepared to play for five more weeks,” per Dan Wiederer of The Athletic. That would place the team in the Super Bowl for the first time in two decades. Of course, Johnson also emphasized that Chicago is “solely focused” on winning “this next game” against the Packers. But former head coach Eric Mangini was too upset by the “five more weeks” quote to pay attention to the rest of the comment.
“It’s terrible and it’s flawed,” Mangini said of Johnson’s Super Bowl aspirations, per First Things First. “The most important thing is what’s in front of you. It’s that meeting, it’s that practice, it’s that film session, it’s that game. It’s not five weeks from now. That’s what kills teams. That’s what sends teams home.”
Eric Mangini gives unnecessary advice to Bears
Following a six-year stint with the New England Patriots, Mangini served as head coach for the New York Jets (2006-2008) and Cleveland Browns (2009-2010). But he's been out of coaching since 2015.
After praising Bill Belichick and the Patriot Way, Mangini went back to his narrative about the Bears overlooking the competition. “That is the absolute elixir for making sure that you don’t end up in the Super Bowl, is worrying about anything that’s five weeks from now. You better just worry about Jordan Love and Green Bay,” he added.
Despite an 11-6 record, the Bears dropped two straight games to end the regular season. And Johnson wasn’t happy with the offense in Week 18’s loss to the Lions.
However, the Eagles also lost in Week 18. This allowed Chicago to secure the No. 2 seed, setting up a Wild Card clash with the Packers. And, while Chicago doesn’t actually seem to be looking past the matchup, Mangini continued to chastise the team anyway.
“When Green Bay beats [the Bears] because they’re worried about five weeks from now, they’ll have plenty of time to think about the next time they want to jump the gun.”
