Super Bowl XLI: Bears vs. Colts, Sun 2/4, 5:30 pm CT

[Chris]

over/under on # of pages in this thread by kickoff?

 

108

 

7,281,205

[Chris]

BTW, GO COLTS!

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Does Freeney play Left DE or Right DE?

 

Usually right DE opposite the LT.

 

So it will be Mathis vs. Fred Miller? ugggh, that could get ugly for the Bears, and fast.

 

No, that's Tait.

[CubColtPacer]

Does Freeney play Left DE or Right DE?

 

Usually right DE opposite the LT.

 

So it will be Mathis vs. Fred Miller? ugggh, that could get ugly for the Bears, and fast.

 

No, that's Tait.

 

No, he was saying that if Freeney goes against the LT (Tait), then that leaves Fred Miller on the other side against Mathis.

[Soriano12]

Does Freeney play Left DE or Right DE?

 

Usually right DE opposite the LT.

 

So it will be Mathis vs. Fred Miller? ugggh, that could get ugly for the Bears, and fast.

 

No, that's Tait.

 

No, he was saying that if Freeney goes against the LT (Tait), then that leaves Fred Miller on the other side against Mathis.

 

Yes. I don't see how Miller could handle Mathis on passing downs, they would have to chip him with a TE or FB

[BigbadB]

Pinch me.

 

I still can't believe it. Wow.

 

The Bears are in the biggest game of the year. The biggest sporting event in the country, if not the world.

 

Just going to try to enjoy this for the bye and then start worrying about the Super Bowl next week. 8-)

 

*pinch*

 

Enjoy it, Bears fans. I love all you guys, and I love the whole Bears team.

 

I love you Rex.

 

I love you Thomas Jones/Cedric Benson.

 

I love you Offensive Line, you scrappy veterans.

 

I love you Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad (and you too Rashied!). You guys have made the plays when they needed to be made. When they needed to be made.

 

I love you Defensive Line. You guys circled the wagons and have regrouped since losing your best player. Keep it up.

 

I love you Linebackers. You guys are the best in the league. That means you too, Hillenmeyer.

 

I love you Defensive Backs. I'll always have a love hate relationship with you guys, but you're constantly put into tough situations and have come out victorious more often than not. See how good our DB's can be when we have Tillman, Vasher and Ricky Manning all healthy?

 

I love you Robbie Gold.

 

I love you Devin Hester. Most of the time.

 

Where's the love for Brad Maynard? His punt shifted the momentum back to the Bears. Clark and McKie say they want a little bit of love too.

 

And where is the love for the rest of the special teams. Adrian Peterson was amazing yesterday.

[Soul]

So Bear fans: are you happier to be facing the Colts, or would you rather have faced the Pats? I'm on the fence.

 

1) Pats have Belichek, and would have had 2 weeks to prepare for the SB, which is way too much time for a great coaching mind like Belichek's to dissect an opponent

 

2) Pats have Brady, who is clutch, and has a ton of experience in big games.

 

3) Pats are experienced to the teeth in big games, more so than any other team. No possibility of rattling them, no possibility of them giving you anything.

 

4) Pats also have bad, bad receivers. Sorry, but it's true. They also have a marginal running game that they almost never used. Maroney's decent, but Dillon is done and the blocking's just not all that impressive. Pats are also an aging ballclub, with a lot of mileage on it and perhaps not the most motivation in the world to win yet another Super Bowl (which may partially explain why they allowed the Colts to engineer the greatest comeback in AFC Championship game history).

 

5) Colts have an awesome array of offensive weapons. There's not one thing, or two, or even three, that you can focus on. Solid all the way around, with playmakers and the league's crowned prince at QB.

 

6) Colts have a good pass rush---the one thing they do well on defense, and it just so happens that's the one thing the Bears don't handle well on offense.

 

7) This Colts team happens to have a good running game, as well as great passing. Nice combo.

 

8) The Colts will be favored, and most people around the country will be rooting for Peyton to get his Super Bowl because he's generally an all-around good guy and people like his commercials (LOL----hey, it's true).

 

9) Colts do have actual, palpable weaknesses on defense that can be exploited.

 

10) Bears can cling to some faint hope that maybe Manning doesn't have his best game----if only because it's his first super bowl. yeah yeah I know, pretty shaky to be hoping for that, but it IS the guy's first shot so he hasn't been here any more than the Bears have.

 

 

Which set of factors did you prefer? Either way, it's the super bowl so you know you need to play a good club to win it. There's no getting around that.

[Banedon]

I was very happy the Colts won. I think the Bears match up much better. The Colts went on a stretch there where they struggled HUGELY to stop the run, and I think the Bears can take advantage of that weakness, even if it's shored itself up a good amount in the playoffs. I think we can stop the run, and force Peyton to try to beat us (which he may well do). The Pats are scarier to me. Possibly it's just the mystique. Either way, I'd much rather have the Colts there, because even if we lose, I'll be glad it was Peyton rather than Brady.

[BigbadB]

What I noticed about the offensive game plan with the Bears is keeping things unpredictable. It was almost obvious that when the Bears walked all over the D-Line with the run in the first half that the Bears assumed that the Saints would make the necessary adjustments at the half, so the Bears came out firing passes to counter attack. Unfortunately, Rex wasn't sharp on his passes, so it didn't bear the fruit I had hoped.

 

But, I did like what they were trying to do.

[Soul]

This will be a real feel good SB for this area of the country. I just don't see alot of bad blood developing. There's too much joy for both Chicago and Indy.

 

That, and neither team has players who like to rub it in other people's faces. I expect both teams will be respectful of each other-----I'm sure that means the media will think it's boring.

 

I'm definitely happy the Colts are there. I just think there were also some advantages to having the Pats instead of the Colts---namely, I wasn't impressed with the Pats offense outside of Brady, and the Bears had played them tough right down to the wire, and the Bears were on the road in that game.

 

Colts: I think there's a real sense if they can get momentum early they can put points up and we won't be able to match. That's the fear.

[BigbadB]

Offense vs. Defense. Defense has been winning these types of battles in fairly recent Super Bowls. May that trend continue this year!

[CuseCubFan69]

Offense vs. Defense. Defense has been winning these types of battles in fairly recent Super Bowls. May that trend continue this year!

 

I think the key for the Bears is to get the lead early and keep the Colts off balance defensively. If the Colts jump out to an early 14-0 lead and the Bears have to pass they are going to be in trouble. It's going to be very interesting to see how this all will fall out.

[goonys evil twin]

I was very happy the Colts won. I think the Bears match up much better. The Colts went on a stretch there where they struggled HUGELY to stop the run, and I think the Bears can take advantage of that weakness, even if it's shored itself up a good amount in the playoffs. I think we can stop the run, and force Peyton to try to beat us (which he may well do). The Pats are scarier to me. Possibly it's just the mystique. Either way, I'd much rather have the Colts there, because even if we lose, I'll be glad it was Peyton rather than Brady.

 

The Colts are the better team, so for ease of victory I'd prefer the Bears play the Pats, but I was rooting for Indy last night and believe this is the true matchup of the league's best teams. I would have hated to deal with 2 weeks of Brady/Belicheck fellating.

 

I was impressed with the way Indy stopped the Chiefs running attack. But the Ravens were not a good running game, and Lewis is just a shell of his former self. While they shut down Maroney yesterday, he's never really impressed me all that much. And two other mediocre backs had some big averages. People were critical of Herm for just running it into the middle, but the fact is KC only had 17 rushing attempts in that game. New England had just 24 and Baltimore had 20. These are teams that averaged 30+ rushes per game. The Bears averaged 31.5 in the regular season and have gone 34 and 46 in the two playoff games. The Bears have to stick with the run, even if Indy stops the first few, and I think even if they get down by double digits early.

[gflore34]

Somewhat similar to the NFC Championship, the Colts have the offensive edge but, the Bears have the defensive and special teams edge.

[Chris]

Somewhat similar to the NFC Championship, the Colts have the offensive edge but, the Bears have the defensive and special teams edge.

 

I know it's apples and oranges since they are in different conferences, but the Colts have only given up 8 more yards of offense in the postseason and they've played 3 games to 2. They also gave up fewer passing yards and only 37 more yards on the ground.

[Chris]

And they are also gaining more yards on punt and kickoff returns. Again, it's apples and oranges, but I am pleased with the way the Colts are playing.

[CuseCubFan69]

And they are also gaining more yards on punt and kickoff returns. Again, it's apples and oranges, but I am pleased with the way the Colts are playing.

 

The Colts have 5 Oranges playing for them.

[goonys evil twin]

And they are also gaining more yards on punt and kickoff returns. Again, it's apples and oranges, but I am pleased with the way the Colts are playing.

 

If they cover kicks the way they did yesterday, Hester will have 3 returns for TD.

[Chris]

And they are also gaining more yards on punt and kickoff returns. Again, it's apples and oranges, but I am pleased with the way the Colts are playing.

 

The Colts have 5 Oranges playing for them.

 

So you're a fan?

[Chocolate Milk]

I think it's funny that after about 10 weeks in the season everyone was saying Colts v. Bears superbowl. Then everyone jumped off that bandwagon as fast as they possibly could. Colts are too soft, Rex is going to tank the Bears, etc etc. They end up meeting in the Superbowl anyway.

[Soul]

I think it's funny that after about 10 weeks in the season everyone was saying Colts v. Bears superbowl. Then everyone jumped off that bandwagon as fast as they possibly could. Colts are too soft, Rex is going to tank the Bears, etc etc. They end up meeting in the Superbowl anyway.

 

Yep, that is interesting. Also, so much for the "hot" team being unstoppable because they're streaking. Colts were 2-3 in their last 5 games. Bears were 4-1, but playing patty-cake with some awful clubs.

 

The 2 hot teams seemed to be Baltimore & Philly, both of whom turned in disappointing playoff campaigns.

[BigbadB]

I think the Chargers were still pretty hot going into the playoffs as well.

[CuseCubFan69]

And they are also gaining more yards on punt and kickoff returns. Again, it's apples and oranges, but I am pleased with the way the Colts are playing.

 

The Colts have 5 Oranges playing for them.

 

So you're a fan?

 

I go where the Cuse kids go just like you do with the Vols.

[CuseCubFan69]

I think the Chargers were still pretty hot going into the playoffs as well.

 

It's funny you say that because I'm waiting for the next "expert" to say that the Colts already have the best teams out of the way.

[BigSlick]

Pinch me.

 

I still can't believe it. Wow.

 

The Bears are in the biggest game of the year. The biggest sporting event in the country, if not the world.

 

Just going to try to enjoy this for the bye and then start worrying about the Super Bowl next week. 8-)

 

*pinch*

 

Enjoy it, Bears fans. I love all you guys, and I love the whole Bears team.

 

I love you Rex.

 

I love you Thomas Jones/Cedric Benson.

 

I love you Offensive Line, you scrappy veterans.

 

I love you Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad (and you too Rashied!). You guys have made the plays when they needed to be made. When they needed to be made.

 

I love you Defensive Line. You guys circled the wagons and have regrouped since losing your best player. Keep it up.

 

I love you Linebackers. You guys are the best in the league. That means you too, Hillenmeyer.

 

I love you Defensive Backs. I'll always have a love hate relationship with you guys, but you're constantly put into tough situations and have come out victorious more often than not. See how good our DB's can be when we have Tillman, Vasher and Ricky Manning all healthy?

 

I love you Robbie Gold.

 

I love you Devin Hester. Most of the time.

 

Where's the love for Brad Maynard? His punt shifted the momentum back to the Bears. Clark and McKie say they want a little bit of love too.

 

Shucks, I forgot about Maynard. Clark and McKie get some love too.