Don't count Mike Ditka among those happy to see the Chicago Bears move on from Lovie Smith.

"I think Lovie is a very good coach," Ditka said Monday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "Everybody is a little bit different in their manner. I think that's a 10-win season. They started 7-1. This team, there's a reason they lost some games in between. A lot of the wins they got in the 7-1 run were because of turnovers by the defense were turned into points. The offense didn't score enough points in those other games. That's the bottom line."

The Bears fired Smith on Monday after a 7-1 start ended with a 10-6 season. After defeating the Detroit Lions, they needed the Green Bay Packers to beat the Minnesota Vikings to earn a playoff berth, but the Vikings pulled off the 37-34 upset.

"If Minnesota would have lost last night and the Bears were in the playoffs this wouldn't have happened. That's a fact. So how stupid is it then? It really is stupid. If they would have made the playoffs this would not have happened. They did what they did. They took care of their business and Minnesota played a great game against Green Bay."

Ditka said the job facing the new coach won't be as big of a challenge as other openings around the NFL.

"The organization doesn't need turning around like a lot of the other ones," Ditka said. "If they want to get back to the Super Bowl you're going to have to have the right players. Don't ask me how you get through the season without key injuries. No one hits anybody anymore then they go out on Sunday and get hurt. What the hell do you expect?"