SUPER BOWL XLI

Indianapolis Colts (-6 1/2; o/u 48 1/2) vs. Chicago Bears @ Dolphin Stadium, Miami, FL

The Bears are the NFC's #1 seed and the Colts are the AFC's #3 seed. This is supposed to be Peyton Manning's chance to rid himself of his remaining playoff ghosts and validate his career. I'm not buying it. Rex Grossman is the most maligned Super Bowl Quarterback since Trent Dilfer played for the Baltimore Ravens in XXXV.

Indianapolis offense vs. Chicago defense: Strength vs. Strength. This matchup will decide the game. Will the Bears defense be able to keep up with the Colts high powered offense? The key will be Chicago's secondary matching up with WR's Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and TE Dallas Clark. If the Colts can get favorable matchups it will open up QB Peyton Manning's play action and the Colts running game. A rainy field generally favors the Bears running game vs. an offense built on speed on the turf in the Hoosier Dome. Edge: Indianapolis.

Chicago offense vs. Indianapolis defense: The Colts defense is built on speed and quickness, not on size. The Bears have a very good o-line. Pressure for the Colts will be the key, to try and rattle QB Rex Grossman into mistakes. When Rex is bad, he can be very bad. For the Bears, they want to control the line and run the ball on the suspect Colts defense. Keeping the Colts offense on the sidelines will be just as important as any other facet of the game. Edge: Even

Tony Dungy vs. Lovie Smith: Lovie wins the battle of the names easily. These two coaches are making their first Super Bowl appearances. Never before has an African-American coach been able to lead his team to the big game and now one will win it for the first time.. It will be a great day when the race issue does not get mentioned at all. Both of these coaches are classy men and are best of friends off the field. Both coaches deserve to win this game. Edge: Even

Indianapolis vs. Chicago special teams: The Colts have Mr. Clutch Adam Vinatieri, arguably the best field goal kicker in NFL history. The Bears have excitng KR/PR Devin Hester and a pretty good K in Robbie Gould. This matchup would be even or slightly to the Bears but if the game is on the line, I'll take #4 any day.

As always, teams who make the fewest mistakes usually wins. The Colts offense is awesome and so is the Bears defense. The Bears do not want this game to become a shootout, because they will lose. I see this as a relatively high scoring affair and a very close game. Take the Colts to win but the Bears to cover. Go with the over in either case.
My prediction: Indianapolis Colts 30, Chicago Bears 27 . Actual Score: Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17. The second Super Bowl Championship for the Colts franchise (V, 1970 vs. Dallas, when the franchise played in Baltimore) in three Super Bowl appearances (lost in III, 1968 vs. New York Jets). This was the first Super Bowl loss for the Bears (won XX, 1985 vs. New England Patriots) in two Super Bowwl appearances. That lousy interception return for a touchdown by the Colts in the fourth quarter blew my prediction for the Bears to cover the spread. Typical ending to a lousy postseason for my predictions. The game didn't start out too well for the Colts, allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown on the very first play. The weather was horrible and that did not help either team because there were eight turnovers committed in the game (five of them by Chicago), most of which were attributable to the constant rainfall throughout the game. Adam Vinatieri missed a normally makeable field goal and had an extra point snap and placement botched due to a wet football. So now the questions about Rex are legitimate after such a poor performance. Will Chicago look for another QB or stick with train-Rex?