***Official Super Bowl Thread: Bears v. Colts***

[capone0]

Whats a top tier division then?

Top Divisions:

NFC East
AFC West

Then you have:

AFC North
AFC South
AFC East
NFC South

Then

NFC West
NFC North

There are bad teams in almost every division. AFC West had a 14-2 team, 2 9-7 teams and a 2-14 team. AFC South had a 12-4 team and 2 8-8 teams and a 6-10 team. Who is better?

[Needle77]

Yeah, but the AFC South had a team without a QB(Jaguars), a team in it's last year of salary cap hell(titans), and well...the Texans. Then there were the Colts. Titans were not as good as their record either. Jags deserved 8-8 if not worse and then again...the Texans. It wasn't a good division. Thats from a Jaguars from and a person that pretty much only follows the AFC South in the NFL, all 10 of us.

[MikeyPatriot]

Here's how I see the game. Bears fan entire life, adopted the Colts as #2 when I moved to So. Indiana.

The Colts O vs. Bears D > Bears O vs. Colts D. I don't think there's any question to this. However, I do think how big the difference here depends on a few things. What Colts D/which Rex Grossman is going to show up? If the Colts have trouble stopping the run (and I think this Bears OL/RB group is better than any the Colts have faced in the playoffs), that gives the Bears a nice foundation for the entire game. If Rex can continue to play like he has the past two games, and how he's played in big games in general this year, that is very good for Chicago.

How much will Peyton light up the Bears' D? How are the Bears gameplanning against Peyton? Are they going to run a Cover 2? Are they going to go in and out of it? Are they going to gameplan against his weaknesses? If they run their regular Cover 2, I think Peyton is going to have a good day.

And the Bears ST >>> Colts ST. This might mean little if the Bears can't score or force any punts however.

I'm really hoping for a Bears win or at the very least a close, dramatic game. I think the Colts are easy favorites here, but any outcome (Colts win big, Colts win small, Bears win small, Bear win big) would not surprise me.

[Banks2334]

To those saying the Bears have no chance, just remember what NE did to St Loius, Tampa did to Oakland, Baltimore did to the Giants and Pitt did to Seattle. Supposedly no one was going to stop those offenses but they did. And to those hating on Grossman, I give you Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. Two QB's that were not supposed to be able to win the big one but did. Lets not forget what Roethlisberger did last year 9/21 123yds 2 Int 0 TD yet they won. There's a reason why they play the game. Go Bears!

[MikeyPatriot]

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To those saying the Bears have no chance, just remember what NE did to St Loius, Tampa did to Oakland, Baltimore did to the Giants and Pitt did to Seattle. Supposedly no one was going to stop those offenses but they did. And to those hating on Grossman, I give you Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. Two QB's that were not supposed to be able to win the big one but did. Lets not forget what Roethlisberger did last year 9/21 123yds 2 Int 0 TD yet they won. There's a reason why they play the game. Go Bears!

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Meh. Even as a Bears fan I recognize that those defenses (at least TB and Bal, not sure about Pit) were more dominant all year than this Bears D.

[Banks2334]

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To those saying the Bears have no chance, just remember what NE did to St Loius, Tampa did to Oakland, Baltimore did to the Giants and Pitt did to Seattle. Supposedly no one was going to stop those offenses but they did. And to those hating on Grossman, I give you Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. Two QB's that were not supposed to be able to win the big one but did. Lets not forget what Roethlisberger did last year 9/21 123yds 2 Int 0 TD yet they won. There's a reason why they play the game. Go Bears!

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Meh. Even as a Bears fan I recognize that those defenses (at least TB and Bal, not sure about Pit) were more dominant all year than this Bears D.

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Yes, but a good D has been getting it done in the Super Bowl. Nobody was giving NE a chance against the "Greatest Show on Turf". Oakland's offense was supposed to be too much for Tampa and Tampa's O was horrible. I just see the game being much better and closer than a lot of people.

[MikeyPatriot]

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To those saying the Bears have no chance, just remember what NE did to St Loius, Tampa did to Oakland, Baltimore did to the Giants and Pitt did to Seattle. Supposedly no one was going to stop those offenses but they did. And to those hating on Grossman, I give you Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. Two QB's that were not supposed to be able to win the big one but did. Lets not forget what Roethlisberger did last year 9/21 123yds 2 Int 0 TD yet they won. There's a reason why they play the game. Go Bears!

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Meh. Even as a Bears fan I recognize that those defenses (at least TB and Bal, not sure about Pit) were more dominant all year than this Bears D.

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Yes, but a good D has been getting it done in the Super Bowl. Nobody was giving NE a chance against the "Greatest Show on Turf". Oakland's offense was supposed to be too much for Tampa and Tampa's O was horrible. I just see the game being much better and closer than a lot of people.

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Two of those D's were all-time greats. This Bears D is not.

[Sluss]

This has been a long two weeks. I was just about to turn 10 when the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985. My parents made me go to bed in the middle of the third quarter with the game already in hand. This year I'm taking off the Monday after just because I cannot envison a scenario where I can get any sleep Sunday night. I'm just about set to put down a third fifth of Whiskey in the basement down by the boiler so here is what my game breakdown looks like:

Some non X's & Os observations. The Bears are pissed. I mean they don't just have a chip on their shoulder, there is salsa piled to the ceiling on that chip. The interviews all week have been people asking the Bears is Rex Grossman the worst QB ever is Peyton Manning the greatest ever. Rex slipped a bit on Thursday finally just saying he understands that the media is just ignorant to the Bears offense. But all of the Bears look like they want to kill the Colts for forcing them into these questions. On the other hand the Colts have spent the week trying to love fest up the Bears. It is starting to get the feeling of a kid who thinks he is tough, running into a kid who he knows is tougher than him and trying to back out of a fight. A great line by Tom Jackson at some point this week, "Lovie Smith has the easiest coaching job in the world this week. He has to set up a good game plan that gives his team the best chance to win and then just tell the guys to turn on the TV. That's all the motivation they will need."

Colts O vs. Bears D
The glamour match-up of this Super Bowl. The Bears defense has slipped with the losses of Mike Brown and Tommie Harris. It has hurt their pass coverage more than anything. Harris may be the best pass rushing tackle in the whole NFL. The Bears were at their most dominant when they were getting instant pressure with the front four and were able to drop seven into coverage. Some of this returned against the Saints and if that pressure can be cranked up on Peyton Manning he will make mistakes.

One of the bigger misnomers is that Peyton Manning eats up cover twos. The Cheifs and Ravens ran basically all cover two. Manning struggled in both of those games. Plus the biggest advantage the Colts have is with Dallas Clark. All three Bears linebackers can run with and cover Clark. They were the best team in the NFL at covering tightends because of how athletic and what great cover skills the linebackers have.

The Colts run game works out well for the Bears. The Colts offensive line is good, but they are not very powerful. The way to hurt the Bears with the run is to just line up and pound the ball right at them. The Colts run game is full of stretch plays, which plays right into the Bears wheelhouse. If the Bears get their linebackers running the other team is having a bad game.

It will be interesting to see if the Bears try and rotate their lineman. The Patriots seemed to be fine with letting the Colts run the hurry up. It is possible to rotate your lineman vs. the no huddle. It just has to be done in a different way than it is normally done. It will be a great coaching job by Rivera and Smith if they can keep a good rotation going.

Bears O vs. Colts D

The Bears offense is the most underated squad of this entire Superbowl. The way this game starts will be interesting. Obviously the Bears want to run the ball. Obviously the Colts want to stop the run. So it would behoove the Bears to come out throwing. Now it could be interesting to see if Ron Turner trys to third level the Colts and come out running. Grossman has had a tendency in some bigger games to come out a little over juiced. If the Bears were to come out and start by running the ball effectively it will bring Bob Sanders down into the box. Now this has not ben the whole key to the Colts run defense resurgence. Freeney and Mathis have started pinching in more on first and second down. While this has closed that giant gate that swings open on the left side for running backs to run through it does set up a very interesting dynamic. If Bob Sanders is in the box and Freeney and Mathis are pinching in this is the most ideal place for play action. If Nick Harper is out Marlon Jackson cannot run with Bernard Berrian. If he is left on that island...

I also like Rex Grossman against a cover two. Rex throws a few passes well that are open vs. the cover two. The Tight End seam, the skinny post and the quick slant. All of this leads me to beleive that if the Bears win it will be Berrian putting some big numbers.

I have to think that Tony Dungy does not kick the ball to Devin Hestor. The Colts kept the ball away from Dante Hall and the Chiefs were unable to take advantage of the field position. All week I'm sure the Colts have been working on that coffin corner kick off and I'm not even sure if there will be a fieldable punt.

This game is one that could go either way. I think if either team tackles poorly this game will get out of hand in a hurry. If the Bears don't tackle well Peyton will be able to move the ball up and down the field at will. And if the Colts don't tackle well this game could look like the Colts/Jags game.

In all honesty if both of these teams play their best this game will be an all out war and an alltime great game. In a year when there have been very few teams that have played complete games and almost no games where both team have played their best to have one in the Superbowl would be just outstanding. Of course that will be the ultimate test to see if me heart is in good shape.

[Don_Keehaawtee]

Colts 17
Bears 14

[droopy0021]

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Colts 17
Bears 14
with 14:10 left in 2nd quarter

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fyp

Seriously, unless it's a sloppily played game I don't see this being low scoring. On either side.