Gale Sayers Talks Bears-Packers Game, Lovie Smith's Future

NEW YORK -- Gale Sayers, the Pro Football Hall of Famer who played seven seasons with the Chicago Bears, knows exactly what the Packers need to do in order to keep the Bears at bay in this Sunday's NFC championship game.

"I think if Devin (Hester) gets his hands on the football," Sayers told FanHouse, "the Green Bay Packers will be sorry."

Sayers, who himself returned six of his 91 career kick returns for touchdowns, knows just how important Hester is to the Bears success.

"You don't give him a chance for returning a kick for a touchdown," he said. "I'm thinking the Packers will not kick near Devin Hester. He is so quick, so fast, and he has great peripheral vision. He can see the whole football field."

The only circumstance in which Sayers would opt to kick toward Hester would be if it were snowing or raining, giving Hester an opportunity to fumble the ball. Seeing as the weather reports on Sunday are calling for a 20-degree, cloudy day with only a 20-percent chance of precipitation, Sayers considers the forecast a "decent" one by Chicago's standards.

"I think they'll have to do something to keep the ball out of his hands," he said of Hester.

As for the Bears, Sayers says the key for Chicago is getting their running game going early, and often.

"I really believe (the Bears) need Matt Forte (to run well) in order to win this football game," Sayers said. "If he can get between 50 and 100 rushing yards, the Bears have a great chance of winning this football game."

Forte's performances against the Packers this season have shown mixed results. In the Bears' Week 3 victory over the Packers, Forte rushed for 29 yards on 11 carries. However, in Week 17, the Packers allowed Forte to run for 91 yards on 15 carries, but still managed to beat the Bears 10-3.

Despite all the talk about the conditions of the field, the strategy to keep the ball away from Hester, and the play of red-hot Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Sayers expects this game to be a classic.

"I think the game is going to be a close one," he said. "I don't think it's going to be a runaway, by anybody."

A close game -- win or lose for Chicago -- will be enough to warrant a long-term contract extension for Bears head coach Lovie Smith, as far as Sayers is concerned.

Just as Brian Urlacher came out and lobbied for Smith to receive a contract extension, Sayers believes that, as long as the game doesn't get out of hand, it should be an easy decision for the Bears to make.

"I think he has done a good job. If they lose this week, say, 17-14, 'Hey, good ball game... we lost.' But he should deserve another contract," Sayers tells FanHouse. "No question about it."

While Sayers is optimistic about the Bears chances this weekend, he sees one major hurdle in Chicago's quest for a Super Bowl win: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"The Steelers have a great football team, great quarterback, and great defense. I think they'll win the (AFC championship game]."

According to Sayers, the Steelers have a winning combination, both an offense and defense which can't be rivaled by the Chicago Bears, or the Packers for that matter. But before we go ahead and pencil in the Steelers as winners of Super Bowl XLV, we have two conference-championship games that need to be played first.