Angelo hopes Bears make most of rare opportunity

LM: How special is it for the Bears to be one of the NFL’s last four teams still playing?

JA: “It’s great. It’s a great accomplishment because you don’t back into the conference championship games. You’ve got to earn your way. We’re excited to be here, but certainly not satisfied. It’s going to be a great challenge for us. Green Bay is probably the hottest team in football right now, so we’re going to have our hands full. We’re playing in Chicago, which is great for our fans. That’s something that we’re very happy about.”

LM: How difficult is it to get to this point?
JA: “You don’t understand it until you’ve had to live it and live it every year. I know people who have been in this business their whole career and never got to this point, let alone the Super Bowl. It’s very difficult. You can’t assume anything. People keep talking about parity. It’s about parity and it’s also about momentum; how teams play on each given Sunday, and we saw that again. Who would have ever thought that both No. 1 seeds would get beat as they did? But again, you don’t know. You’ve got to be at your best all the time. To get to this point, all four teams are very deserving, and these should be great games.”

LM: As you mentioned, the Packers are red hot. How big of a challenge will they present Sunday?
JA: “It’s tough because there’s less room for error. You can’t make mistakes in big games like this one against a hot team. You’ve got to play almost error-free football. Obviously the intensity of how you have to play speaks for itself. That’s every week. But then you have to play smart football. It comes back to not making mistakes and not giving up big plays. That’s going to determine the outcome of the game as well as how both quarterbacks play. When you get to the big games, those are usually the determining factors.”

LM: The East-West Shrine Game will be held Saturday and the Senior Bowl is slated for the following weekend. Does playing for the NFC title prevent the Bears from keeping tabs on those college all-star games?
JA: “No. We’re business as usual. We’ll have our scouts at those games as we always do. We’ve had our initial draft meetings and have targeted players we want to see. So nothing really changes our routine. We’re always working ahead, and this is no different. It’s just more exciting. There’s more enthusiasm from our scouts. The energy they now have to do their jobs is heightened and well it should be because they see their hard work paying off and that’s a byproduct of winning. Everybody feels great about their job and their team.”