The Inevitable Catches Up

Finally and fittingly, the Indianapolis Colts are Super Bowl Champions. Having the best quarterback in the game (if not of all time) and one of the best coaches in the league, it is good to see the Colts get all the analysts of their backs by sealing up a dominating Super Bowl victory. It seemed strange to think that a team as good as the Colts had never made it to the Super Bowl. We are so accustomed to them as a regular-season juggernaut and when the playoffs come around the wheels just come off. But the Colts were definitely handling the Super Bowl like a regular season game.

I did not panic when Chicago's Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. To me, it was the splash in the face with cold water for the Colts, they seemed to wake up after that and say, 'Okay, this is for real.' Then of course the Colts pobed deep on their first offensive series which wound up as an interception for Chicago. At that point I was yelling at the screen, 'Run the ball and complete short passes and screens so that the safeties will play closer to the line of scrimmage!' and 'Take what they give you!'

It seemed that Tony Dungy and Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore heard me, because the Colts didn't wait till halftime to make adjustments, they did it right then and there and never looked back. Addai and Rhodes were key, and I actually thought that maybe Rhodes would get the MVP. And because Addai and Rhodes were having some success, sure enough the Chicago safeties came up and Peyton found Reggie Wayne on a 55-yard bomb. That touchdown toss to Wayne really demonstrated how big and strong Peyton is. With 300-pound DT Tank Johnson hanging on to his waist, Peyton stood tall and gunned the pass which found Wayne all by his lonesome beyond the Chicago safeties.

The first half was very sloppy by both teams, but that went to show that the conditions were not favoring the outside-playing Bears, the dome-home Colts were ready to play in anything. It became apparent in the second quarter that Chicago QB Rex Grossman was going to have one of those days. Two fumbled snaps, two interceptions, two sacks, little time to generate an offensive rythym. The Colts played it perfect, staying inbounds and featuring the running backs. You could tell by halftime that the vaunted Bears D was tired.

Chicago had the best defense in the NFL this season, but this seemed to me a bit of the syndrome Mike Tyson suffered from when he was a young, dangerous heavyweight. He couldn't get anyone to go more than two rounds with him before he knocked them out, conversely he wasn't in shape for a long fight. Same thing happened to the Bears. The Bears surrendered a league-low 250 yards per game. Probably also I would say it was rare for opposing offenses to run more than 50 plays at them in a game. The Colts had almost that total by halftime, finishing the game with 81 offensive plays to Chicago's 48. Staying inbounds kept the clock running and put the pressure squarely on Grossman to get the Bears back in it by throwing.

This is the exact situation the Colts D is built for. They want you to pass, the secondary does not get beat deep and the speedy front four just pin their ears back and go for the QB. Grossman and the Bears coaching staff did not seem experienced enough to go away from their gameplan, the Bears needed to stay committed to the run game, Thomas Jones was having some success early on. Then of course they brought in Cedric Benson but he went out after one play to get his vaginal juices drained and did not return. Moose Muhammad made some nice catches, but the rest of the receivers disappeared. I was thinking that the Bears would do a decent draw play or a shovel pass to take advantage of the penetrating pursuit by the Colts' Freeney and Mathis off the ends. But alas, no.

From halftime on, I knew the Colts had it in the bag if they just didn't give the ball back to Chicago. Sure enough, the Colts tightened up their attack while the Bears fell apart. You could just see in the body language of the Bears that their bread-and-butter, the defense, was spent.
My suspicions these last few weeks were that the top 4 seeds in the AFC (San Diego, Baltimore, Colts and Pats) would beat the Bears 8 out of 10 times. From watching the Super Bowl, I would contend that as an accurate statement. And, as it usually is, the AFC Championship game was way better, we should just anoint the winner of that game every year as Super Bowl Champion.

Now we head into the long off-season, desperately scouring the Sports pages looking for any blurb related to the NFL in any way. Free agency and the draft will restoke our football fires, driving us to a football-mad frenzy by August and training camps. Word is that Peyton's brother Eli was with him in the Championship locker room. Soak it all up young fella, here's hoping it instills in you a fervent desire to experience the same thing with the New York Giants.