Superbowl Forty Fookin' One

The Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts will meet on February 4th in Superbowl XLI ( I love Roman numerals - they make everything seem so important). I'm not sure what the early line is but I suspect the Colts will be favored by 4 points or more. This makes sense as they seem to be the better team. While neither team is without it's flaws, the Colts seem to have less of them. At Quarterback, Peyton Manning is the best in the game and light years ahead of the Bears Rex Grossman, who couldn't even start for half the teams in the NFL. Grossman doesn't seem to have much in the way of technique or accuracy. Any success he has completing passes has more to do with his underrated receivers being able to adjust to his poorly thrown, inaccurate passes before opposing defensive backs have time to react. Should the Colts manage to get some pressure on Grossman, he's proven to be mistake-prone at the worst times. Any quarterback will suck if you harass him all day, Grossman just sucks more than most. Additionally, the Colts really impressed me by showing way more grit and character than they ever displayed before by coming back from a 21 to 3 deficit against the Patriots, a team that's won 3 of the past 5 Superbowls. Here's a comparison of each teams units:

Quarterback

The Colts have the great Peyton Manning (the Giants, on the other hand, have the lesser Manning: Eli). The Bears have some guy named Rex. Dogs are named Rex. Not quarterbacks. I never bought the whole arguement that Peyton can't win the big game. Football is the ultimate team sport. The Bears defensive backs are better than the Colts, and will not give Manning an easy time, but he should still get some touchdowns at some point. Edge: Colts Duh. I'd choose Eli Manning over Grossman. Or even Archie...

Running Backs

Hey, now! The Bears might have an edge here. Thomas Jones is a decent all-around back and Cedric Benson, while still trying to live up to the hype of being the 3rd overall pick in the draft last year, has a rare combination of speed and power. Jones is like a poor man's Tiki Barber - he can do it all and he does it well. Until recently, the Colts couldn't stop the run, so on paper, this pair should be able to run all over the place throughout the game. The Colts rely on the tandem of Rookie Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. Addai is coming into his own and Rhodes is assuming his rightful place as a backup. Neither is as good or versatile as the now-departed-for-the-Cardinals Edgerrin James, winner of the Stupidest Free Agent Award for 2006. Even if James were there, the Colts would have trouble running on the Bears top-rated defense. Edge: Bears The Colts will concentrate on stopping the run, forcing Grossman to pass. Problem is, they're not very good at run defense. If Jones and Benson start to dominate, the Bears will win this game. The Bears have very good linebackers and run stuffers on the defensive line. Led by Brian Urlacher, they'll keep Addai in check and under 100 rushing yards.

Wide Receivers

Mushin Muhammed and Bernard Berrian are an underrated tandem for the Bears. If the Colts don't get a pass rush, they'll make some big plays. Still, it's almost unfair to compare them to the Colts collection of All-Pros. Marvin Harrison is going to the Hall of Fame. I'm sure he'd love to get a Superbowl victory to cap his career. Reggie Wayne is almost as good as Harrison. and would be the #1 receiver on most other teams. If Manning gets the time, these guys will eat the Bears alive. That's a big If, as the Bears have a very good pass rush, but if anyone can score on that defense, it'll be these wide-outs. Colts Tight End Dallas Clark is also a very good pass catcher and provides a good dump off when Manning's in trouble. Edge: Colts I doubt the Bears are intimidated by the Colts wide receivers. They're going to keep them in check, but Harrison and Wayne can break out at any time. The Bears wide outs might make some plays simply because the Colts DB's are merely ordinary and they're more used to adjusting to Grossman's wounded-duck passes than the Colts DB's are.

Offensive Line

The Colts have had the NFL's best offense for several years now, so the line must be doing something right. They'll have their hands full with the Bears Defense, but they've handled good defenses before. The Bears OL is pretty good. I say this simply because if they sucked, they would not be in the Superbowl. They seem especially good at run blocking. If the Colt's speed rushers can get to Grossman, he's proven to make dumb decisions throughout this year, with several multiple interception games. Edge: Colts Their pass blocking is second to none, but if anyone can get to Manning, it would be the Bears.

Defense

The Bears live and die on defense. While no one except the dumbest of Bears fans (and listening to NFL radio on Sirius, there seems to be a lot of them) would deign to compare this defense to the 1985 unit that destroyed the rest of the NFL (except Dan Marino), they are still one of the best defenses in the NFL this year. They can get to the quarterback, and their linebackers are fast and aggressive. Brian Urlacher is one of the best linebackers in football. Their defensive backfield is good enough to at least keep up with Harrison and Wayne, but if they have to cover man to man regularly, those two will eat them alive. Still, if any team can stop Manning and company, it's the Bears. The Colts, on the other hand, have had trouble on defense, especially run defense, all year. They rely on their offense to generate big leads. That allows the defense to play to their strengths, forcing the other team into playing catch up and then rushing the shit out of the passer. For reasons I can't fathom, they suddenly started playing good run defense in the playoffs after getting eaten alive for stretches during the regular season. They'll need to play tough against the Bears, as I don't see their offense jumping out to a big lead quickly. Edge: Bears Their defense won't intimidate the Colts, but it will hold them in check most of the time. I wonder which Colts defense will show up? The one that's been playing well for the past few weeks, or the sieve-like pansies who were getting run over regularly by every mediocre running back they played.

Final Score

Colts: 27, Bears: 17 The Indy offense will do enough to give them a lead and the defense will get at least one interception and touchdown because, playing from behind, Grossman will be forced to pass and we all know that's just asking for trouble. I doubt this game will be a blow out, but by the third quarter, Indy will be in control because the Bears won't be able to run 60% of the time, which is their only real hope of keeping the Colts offense off the field. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. If you have a different opinion, let me know...