***Official Super Bowl Game Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[stbugs]

I'm glad the Colts won this way: In the constant rain (especially with the rep as a "soft dome team"), winning the lines of scrimmage, without a dominant performance by Manning. winning as a team. It still hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe tomorrow it will.

Congrats. GG

Thanks. I'm sure the Bears will be back soon there soon.

I don't know what FAs they might lose, but the Bears have to be the odds on NFC favorite. Maybe Seattle, but with their division, I would be surprised if the Bears don't get a bye and potentially home field throughout again. Dallas loses Parcells, the Saints showed that their defense is still miles away, Seattle isn't getting better and everyone else is mediocre. The only wild card is Philly if McNabb and Westbrook stay healthy all year. They have the talent to be the best in the NFC, but just haven't been healthy the past two years.

 

[dickey moe]

A bummed, bitter Bears fan here, with my two cents with regards to what cost the Bears the game:1. The defense did not get off the field on third down and did a poor job adjusting to the fact that Manning was content to throw underneath all game long. With such poor weather making throwing deep more difficult than usual, the Bear D did the Colts a favor here. One can say the Bear offense did the D no favors by playing so poorly, but the defense had plenty of chances to get off the field and didn't. 430 net yards for the Colts' offense, aside from keeping the Bear D on the field, meant the Bears' offense had no chance to pound the Colts.2. Grossman - Two fumbled snaps, two terrible interceptions. The fumbles cost the Bears field position as well as put the defense on the field longer, while the interceptions cost the Bears 14 points. I still don't know why he threw that first pick, and I have to think (hope? pray?) the second one just slipped because Berrian was wide open. The first int was infuriating, the second just took any hope I had and squashed it. He also should have had a 3rd pick before Gould's field goal. I know he's inexperienced, but I just can't fathom what the heck he's seeing out there on the field - it's not like he's never played football before. Does he remember which uniforms his team is wearing?3. The Benson fumble - this was big because at that point the Bears were off to a good start, had the ball around midfield, and looked like they could really put the Colts on their heels. Instead, the fumble cost us field position, and after the exchange of punts the Colts had a short field and took the ball for a field goal which settled them down.4. Punting - Maynard, after having such a great NFC Championship game, was pretty bad. His average of 45.2 looked good, but he was hitting line drives that the Colts returned to the tune of 14 yards per return. Meanwhile, the Colts limited Hester to only 3 yards total on punt returns. This was an area that the Bears needed to win in order to have a good chance to win, and they didn't.5. O-line - Didn't get a consistent push on the Colts D all night. Jones' stats look nice, but aside from his 52 yard run and a 12 yarder on the last possession, he averaged less than 4 ypc, which contributed tremendously to the offense's inability to sustain any drives. Again, o-line needed to win at the line of scrimmage to give us a good chance, and they didn't. And Garza completely whiffing on McFarland on that 2nd and 1 killed a promising drive.6. Coaching - I thought the play calling wasn't that great, too predictable on offense and too conservative on defense. Rivera took a LONG time to adjust to Manning taking the underneath stuff and by the time he did, his defense had been on the field too long. Turner calling those runs on two 3rd and 4/5 were fairly predictable (I guess Indy thought so too since they stopped them both) and were indicative of the obvious nature of the play calling.All in all, the better team won today. It hurt to watch the Bears lose, but overall I can't say I'm dissatisfied with the season. I mean, hell, they got to the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl with a reasonable shot to win the thing. I don't know if I'll ever be able to erase the images of Grossman's interceptions, but I'm still proud to be a Bears fan. The future? I just don't know - they need to keep Briggs definitely. If Rivera goes, that won't be a huge loss, in my opinion, because Lovie is a defensive guy and knows what he wants. But I just don't know about QB - Grossman's mistakes don't seem to be inexperience as much as blind stupidity. But I know Lovie will stick with him next year, barring some Bear fan who's heart can't take the stress putting a hit out on Rex. And they should trade Benson and keep Jones - Benson has no guts and heart, while Jones does. Losing the Super Bowl sucks...but it's better than not getting there (I guess - ask me again in a few months).

So other than the QB, RB, Offensive line, defense, special teams, and coaching you thought the Bears played pretty well, huh?

 

[Jagerbomber]

A bummed, bitter Bears fan here, with my two cents with regards to what cost the Bears the game:1. The defense did not get off the field on third down and did a poor job adjusting to the fact that Manning was content to throw underneath all game long. With such poor weather making throwing deep more difficult than usual, the Bear D did the Colts a favor here. One can say the Bear offense did the D no favors by playing so poorly, but the defense had plenty of chances to get off the field and didn't. 430 net yards for the Colts' offense, aside from keeping the Bear D on the field, meant the Bears' offense had no chance to pound the Colts.2. Grossman - Two fumbled snaps, two terrible interceptions. The fumbles cost the Bears field position as well as put the defense on the field longer, while the interceptions cost the Bears 14 points. I still don't know why he threw that first pick, and I have to think (hope? pray?) the second one just slipped because Berrian was wide open. The first int was infuriating, the second just took any hope I had and squashed it. He also should have had a 3rd pick before Gould's field goal. I know he's inexperienced, but I just can't fathom what the heck he's seeing out there on the field - it's not like he's never played football before. Does he remember which uniforms his team is wearing?3. The Benson fumble - this was big because at that point the Bears were off to a good start, had the ball around midfield, and looked like they could really put the Colts on their heels. Instead, the fumble cost us field position, and after the exchange of punts the Colts had a short field and took the ball for a field goal which settled them down.4. Punting - Maynard, after having such a great NFC Championship game, was pretty bad. His average of 45.2 looked good, but he was hitting line drives that the Colts returned to the tune of 14 yards per return. Meanwhile, the Colts limited Hester to only 3 yards total on punt returns. This was an area that the Bears needed to win in order to have a good chance to win, and they didn't.5. O-line - Didn't get a consistent push on the Colts D all night. Jones' stats look nice, but aside from his 52 yard run and a 12 yarder on the last possession, he averaged less than 4 ypc, which contributed tremendously to the offense's inability to sustain any drives. Again, o-line needed to win at the line of scrimmage to give us a good chance, and they didn't. And Garza completely whiffing on McFarland on that 2nd and 1 killed a promising drive.6. Coaching - I thought the play calling wasn't that great, too predictable on offense and too conservative on defense. Rivera took a LONG time to adjust to Manning taking the underneath stuff and by the time he did, his defense had been on the field too long. Turner calling those runs on two 3rd and 4/5 were fairly predictable (I guess Indy thought so too since they stopped them both) and were indicative of the obvious nature of the play calling.All in all, the better team won today. It hurt to watch the Bears lose, but overall I can't say I'm dissatisfied with the season. I mean, hell, they got to the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl with a reasonable shot to win the thing. I don't know if I'll ever be able to erase the images of Grossman's interceptions, but I'm still proud to be a Bears fan. The future? I just don't know - they need to keep Briggs definitely. If Rivera goes, that won't be a huge loss, in my opinion, because Lovie is a defensive guy and knows what he wants. But I just don't know about QB - Grossman's mistakes don't seem to be inexperience as much as blind stupidity. But I know Lovie will stick with him next year, barring some Bear fan who's heart can't take the stress putting a hit out on Rex. And they should trade Benson and keep Jones - Benson has no guts and heart, while Jones does. Losing the Super Bowl sucks...but it's better than not getting there (I guess - ask me again in a few months).

So other than the QB, RB, Offensive line, defense, special teams, and coaching you thought the Bears played pretty well, huh?

Damn, dude....HARSH!And yet hilarious.Bears fans should be hopeful for next year. I don't see the NFC getting all that better. The Saints might actually get a defense and Seattle and Philly could make it interesting if all their players stay healthy. Other than that...slim pickins'.

 

[Capella]

I thought the funniest part of the whole game was the fact the Colts basically said "look, we're better off with Rex Grossman having the ball at midfield than we are with Devin Hester returning it".

I mean, that pretty much says it all.

Happy for Dungy and Peyton -- that team definitely deserves it.

 

[Eric Stratton]

I thought the funniest part of the whole game was the fact the Colts basically said "look, we're better off with Rex Grossman having the ball at midfield than we are with Devin Hester returning it".I mean, that pretty much says it all. Happy for Dungy and Peyton -- that team definitely deserves it.

 

[BGP]

My thoughts on the game:

The Bears' defense did an ok job of what it was asked to do. By design they wanted to give up short gains. And they did. But the couldn't stop the Colts from converting 3rd downs. They also missed too many tackles. To their credit, the defense was strong in the red zone. No longer needing to defend deep, they consistently shut down the Colts offense. The result was 4 short FG attempts, 1 missed. They probably should have been more aggressive. But they also should have just made more tackles.

The Bears offense, however, was awful. Grossman had a terrible day of course. I also saw some Bears look a little too tenative on offense. They would get the ball and stop moving, essentially waiting for the defender to make the tackle. I saw it twice alone on the drive after the Colts scored their last TD. Grossman would throw it in the flat. The receiver had one guy to beat, but instead of hitting the gas and daring him to make that tackle, he just stood there and got pushed down. On that wet field the defender can EASILY miss if you apply pressure. They should get the ball and challenge the defender to make a tackle, especially in wet field conditions. The Colts challenged the tackler a LOT more and broke some.

Overall, the Bears weren't aggressive enough.

 

[shakeybarn]

I'm glad the Colts won this way: In the constant rain (especially with the rep as a "soft dome team"), winning the lines of scrimmage, without a dominant performance by Manning. winning as a team. It still hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe tomorrow it will.

Congrats. GG

Thanks. I'm sure the Bears will be back soon there soon.

sorry, I disagree... this team depends on great breaks... will be tough... but the NFC should afford another opportunity. I just don't see it.

 

[geoff8695]

I'm glad the Colts won this way: In the constant rain (especially with the rep as a "soft dome team"), winning the lines of scrimmage, without a dominant performance by Manning. winning as a team. It still hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe tomorrow it will.

The Colts seemed to handle the weather a lot better than my Bears and the much maligned Colts defense really came through during this post season, including today. I was especially impressed that the Colts D toughened up against the run after giving up the big run early to Thomas Jones early, and that they didn't give up the big pass plays downfield. I knew the Colts would be able to score points, I just didn't expect the Bears to struggle to score or to find protecting the football to be so challenging. Kudos to the Indianapolis Colts - they were the better TEAM today and won in virtually all facets of this game. I'm glad to see Tony Dungy and Peyton manning finally get the credit they deserve. I just wish it didn't have to come at the Bears expense.Congratulations DJ your Colts are the World Champions and they earned it. I'm sure it will sink in soon enough for you - enjoy this.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I'm glad the Colts won this way: In the constant rain (especially with the rep as a "soft dome team"), winning the lines of scrimmage, without a dominant performance by Manning. winning as a team. It still hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe tomorrow it will.

It will. Congrats to you, the Colts, and the rest of the Colts fanbase. And like bostonfred said, you are a classy Colts fan, so enjoy this!

 

[shakeybarn]

for the Benson homers....

2 carries... -1 yards... pivotal fumble... and zero contribution for the rest of the game.

 

[weasel3515]

Way back in the 1970's when I was an impressionable youth of only 7 it would have been trendy to pick the Steelers as my favorite team after they won Super Bowl after Super Bowl. Instead I decided to pick a team with a good history that was just down on its luck. I picked the Colts, and yes, I was laughed at by everyone. My response was "you just wait, some day when they win another Super Bowl, I can say I've been a fan forever." Forever was today. Congrats to the Colts, one of the classiest organizations around.

 

[ready5]

I'm just glad I had "God" in the MVP poll.

ha, no kidding... but evidently lovie didn't do things "the lord's way", because he got smited for a loss. i've never understood why athletes/coaches thank god for wins... are they trying to say they're better than their opponents? sounds fairly self-righteous to me...

please don't be mocking religion and/or God, thank you

um... in what way am i mocking "religion and/or God"? i'm pointing out a glaring contradiction in the behavior of some "athletes/coaches", nothing more. does dungy really think he's more righteous than lovie and that's why god blessed him with victory?quite personally, i don't think too many religions or conceptions of god really concern themselves all that much with modern sporting contests or any other form of entertainment. and even if there are some that do, then wow do they have their priorities messed up.

 

[YesJenny]

My favorite part of the day were the Sierra Mist commercials, and I don't even like Sierra Mist: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2819649

 

[roadkill1292]

This game somewhat mirrored the Colts' win over the Ravens a few weeks ago, with Peyton dinking and dunking down the field, converting third down after third down, keeping his defense fresh. Ratbird fans always thought they were in it, if the defense could just get Peyton off the field. While it wasn't glamorous, the guy frustrated two of the best defenses in the league on the way to the trophy. Rex Ryan is still shaking his head in disbelief.

 

[ravnzfan]

This game somewhat mirrored the Colts' win over the Ravens a few weeks ago, with Peyton dinking and dunking down the field, converting third down after third down, keeping his defense fresh. Ratbird fans always thought they were in it, if the defense could just get Peyton off the field. While it wasn't glamorous, the guy frustrated two of the best defenses in the league on the way to the trophy. Rex Ryan is still shaking his head in disbelief.

I was thinking the exact same thing, as it seemed (because it WAS) all Colts, but yet the Bears had the ball down 22-17 and driving...a score and they actually take the lead!Ravens were outplayed all day and down 12-6 mid-4th qtr...if we can just get 1 score...not to be

interesting note on the Colts, and Manning, etc...

the malinged Colt-D held it's ground against the run, while running FOR over 600 yds in 4 post season games...and Rhodes out rushing Addai 306-294

while the passing game dinked and dunked to keep the chains moving, it was the play vs the run and it's own running game that really sealed the deal for the Colts

...keep that in mind when you go to draft Manning mid-2nd next season!

 

[Tom Servo]

Consider yourself jinxed.

at anybody who thinks what is posted here has anything to do with the game.

I didn't say it did. That's just what it brought to my mind, FWIW. But, just for yucks, "Colts 29 - Bears 17 down?"

 

[Power Monster]

Congrats to Colts fans. Great win and it is certainly a memory you will not forget as a football fan. We talked about how the Colts would have to stop the run and they were certainly vulnerable to the run but it did not matter. We talked about how the Colts had to stop Hester and they were burned early but it did not matter. The bottom line here is the Colts OL just shoved the Bears defense all over the field and they controlled the tempo of the game the entire game. After Benson was hurt- the Bears never established any rhythm on offense and they played sloppy in every phase of the game. The better team was certainly the Colts so enjoy the win and savor the memories....

 

[katar]

I hate having two threads like this. Ah well, here's a copy of my thoughts.

Here is the game according to my data:

Efficiencies - yards divided by points (scored and allowed).

ind 14.42 O, 14.76 D

chi 12.56 O, 18.45 D

The Bears have a better offensive and defensive efficiency. Teams with such an advantage are 21-2 in conference title and super bowl play since 1990. They are 7-0 in super bowls since 1990.

The Colts DE is especially bad. The worst DE rating of a super bowl winner since 1990? 17.06 (1998 Broncos) In fact, there is only ONE super bowl champ in history with a worse DE:

68 nyj 12.37 O, 13.44 D

Those were the Super Bowl III Namath Jets that upset the Colts. Rounding out the bottom-five Champion DEs:

83 rai 13.91 O, 15.48 D

88 sfo 16.79 O, 16.57 D

98 den 12.53 O, 17.06 D

67 gnb 14.06 O, 17.07 D

71 dal 13.02 O, 17.14 D

Magic numbers: (scoring offense ranking + scoring defense ranking)

Colts (3rd offense, 23rd defense) 3+23 = 26

Bears (2nd offense, 3rd defense) 2+3 = 5

Worst magic numbers of 20+ of conference champs since 1990:

2003 Panthers: 25

1999 Titans: 22

1991 Bills: 21

2000 Giants: 20

All lost the Super Bowl.

The 1979 Rams had a magic number of 26. They won the NFC but lost to the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Its been a long, long time since a club with a magic number as bad as the 2006 Colts went to the Super Bowl.

With regards to the Super Bowl OR AFC/NFC championship, no club since 1990 has won any of the three with a magic number as big as the Colts.

The worst magic number of a super bowl winner was 19 by the 2002 Buccaneers (18th offense, 1st defense) 18+1 = 19

Scoring differential is one more item I look at. That is points scored minus points allowed. The club with the better number here has won every super bowl since 1990 except for two cases: The 1990 Giants and 2001 Patriots - both coached by Belichick.

ind +67

chi +172

The Bears win here as well.

Here is what I wrote about the playoffs before they started:

Updated to add my super bowl pick: Patriots over Bears.

If that doesn't happen, I think it will be Ravens over Bears.

If not that, then the Bears win it all.

Those are the only three possibilites really according to the numbers.

SUMMARY:The Colts would set and approach new record lows in a couple fundamental categories.

Teams with an inferior OE and DE are 0-7 in the super bowl since 1990.
No team has won a super bowl with a magic number (26) as bad as the one the 06 Colts have.
Only the 68 Jets, in their stunning upset, won the super bowl with a DE worse than the 06 Colts.
Clubs with a superior scoring differential have only lost twice since 1990.The system selected the Bears as one of three suitable candidates to win it all. And they are the only ones left alive.

Pick: BEARS

The first comment I'll make is that, for all the supposed "recent improvement" the Colts defense made, they were horrible today. 319 yards / 34 points = a 9.38 DE.

The Saints defense was ranked 31st giving up 4.94 yards per carry.

The 32nd ranked team? The Colts! They allow 5.33 yards per carry. They've also allowed 20 rushing TDs, 31st in the NFL.

I guess you have to add the Colts alongside the Steelers to your secret list of exemptions for your numbers to come out the way you want. This just proves that you simply cannot predict the outcome with any system. There are no "magic numbers". There are just way too many intangibles to account for, with the biggest being the attitudes and inspiration of the players. Maybe it was the weather... maybe it was those darn sideline painters... maybe it was the will of the Colts, after having overcome such adversity against the Pats... You just can't account for everything with numbers, and that's why they play the game. Good job Colts. Better luck next year Bears.

 

[The Jerk]

I guess you have to add the Colts alongside the Steelers to your secret list of exemptions for your numbers to come out the way you want. This just proves that you simply cannot predict the outcome with any system. There are no "magic numbers". There are just way too many intangibles to account for, with the biggest being the attitudes and inspiration of the players. Maybe it was the weather... maybe it was those darn sideline painters... maybe it was the will of the Colts, after having overcome such adversity against the Pats... You just can't account for everything with numbers, and that's why they play the game. Good job Colts. Better luck next year Bears.

A huge flaw in the formula is the omission of any correction for schedule difficulty. The Colts are just the 7th SB champion to have their cumulative opponents regular season record be .500 or better (128-128 for the 2006 Colts opponents). In addition, the Colts are only the second SB champion to have played 11 or more teams that finished at .500 or better in the regular season (1980 Raiders). Playing much more difficult competition hurts the Colts ratings when compared with the Bears, who like the Seahawks in 2005, played the easiest schedule in the NFL in 2006.I tried pointing this out in January 2005 when BGP predicted the Steelers would lose to the Seahawks -- when I actually thought he might be putting out these statistics honestly and in good faith -- but rather than improve his system, he just destroys the integrity of it by ignoring results it misses. And 4 of the past 6 big games (conference championship and Super Bowl) have been misses.Another intangible shared by the Colts and Steelers (and their coaches) is the experience of being in big games for five years, both regular season and playoffs. Both the Seahawks and the Bears had played in comparatively few big games compared to their opposition. Even though the Colts and Steelers were frustrated in many of those games, including shared misery vs. the Patriots, they learned from the experience and became a stronger team. Specifically, both the Steelers in 2004-05 and Colts in 2005-06 had great regular season but peaked too soon in the first year, then had lesser regular season but played their best in the playoffs. The ability to come up big when the games matter most is a hard thing to describe with numbers.