CubColtPacer

I think the offensive line of the Colts did a wonderful job and should have been the MVP. I would definitely agree that the offensive line was wonderful, which opened up both the running and passing game-I probably would have voted for them if they had allowed it.

Corrected He wasn't to me. I walked up to him randomly during the Final Four a couple years ago, and he was one of the nicest people I have ever met. He talked to me for 10-15 minutes in a hallway, and never seemed upset or irritated at all that I was using up his time-a real down to earth type of guy.

They're the best team in the world. No, they're the winner of the SB, not the best team in football, much less the best team in the world. If that game is played on grass, Bears win. That may sound like sour grapes, but it's true. How about we actually have the SB in football conditions instead of a vacation destination. Sorry-have to jump in here. That game was played on grass-the best grass anywhere found, but still that was a grass field, not a turf one. As for football conditions-was the rain through the whole game not enough? How do you suppose to make it better then the conditions of this game?

Addai He should be, but I can see them going with Manning to make it a good story. I wouldn't be unhappy with Manning, Addai, or Rhodes-they're about equal for this game IMO. Thank you for the congrats Bears fans-it is a tough game to gauge because of how the weather conditions affected both teams. You guys have a great squad, and it was a great battle-maybe we can meet again next year. I'm going to try not to post again in this thread, because I know how painful playoff losses can be-good luck, and may you have a productive offseason and successful season. I also hope you guys get some of the respect back that you deserve after the game that you didn't get before. Good game.

Somebody just asked me-do you think he caught that? Me (before the first replay): I've seen Marvin Harrison for 10 years-I'm completely sure that's a catch. He is just an amazing receiver on dragging his feet like that-I've never seen anyone better on those types of things.

I know they don't do this, but those calls should have been split-one of those 2 should have gone the Colts way.

It was a decent challenge by the Colts-they are almost never wrong on snapping it before the player gets off the field. Do the networks have no reverse angle? All they needed to do was show a camera from the other side that people could see if the guy was on the sidelines or not. I'd rather the Colts have gone for it on that play, but I'll take the FG.

There's the Colts run defense in a nutshell-give up a large run, and then stop the next two.

This is an ugly game with this rain-it's bad for both teams, but this is going to be an ugly game.

Just how did you determine that ? Well, their looks on their faces looked focused-obviously the Colts are way, way too tight right now.

That's better than punting it to Hester there. The Colts always look like this in the 1st quarter-it's awful.

Well, I guess I have to root for the same way that the OSU-Florida game went now.

My house just went crazy! The Colts have lost the toss in every single playoff game, so we all wanted to lose it again-We lost the toss!!!! :D

The Bears definitely have more of a support there than the Colts do, if that be because they have more true fans there or they have people cheering for the underdog, I don't know.

Both these teams look pretty focused.

If Harper's 75% the Colts are lucky. I'd test him if I was Turner... I'm not sure I'd let Harper start-I'd rather just have him as the nickel corner for this game if he's not completely healthy.

No it won't. The Bears are a team that runs it to throw it, while the Colts are a team that throws it to run it. So, the weather will affect the Colts moreso then the Bears. The Bears have no problem with running the ball all game, considering that is their strength. True, but the Colts have been much better at just standing up and running it down an opponents throats lately. The wind won't affect the Colts passing game much-they simply don't go deep all that much. I see the wind as being a pretty neutral factor right now.

He was the QB coach-he's still officially listed as that, but really he's simply the top assistant to the team at this point.

I certainly hope not, and I hope my opinion doesn't change tomorrow.:D

I think that's a pretty safe bet. While Indy is worse on kickoffs then punts, punt returners stats are inflated against the Colts because Hunter typically kicks it about 60 yards in the air, which give the returners a little room to run. I hope he kicks it higher and shorter-but that strategy will have to be seen.

We weren't the best defense in the conference though, were we? Yeah, you were. 3rd best in the NFL, first in the NFC (Baltimore and New England were ahead of you in scoring defense overall).

The refs sure didn't put the whistles away at halftime. This is excessive. This reminds me of the two games at the beginning of the season (the preseason NIT games)-one touch and its a foul.

Whistles on every possession is really bogging down the Indiana-Iowa game on both sides. It's 37-37 at halftime. Silly watch: Iowa crowd starts chanting Airball, Airball after the IU player is short on his attempt from 3/4 court as time expires in the half :D

I agree that there are things beyond a GM's control. But, some of those things that are now beyond the GM's control are things that could have been within the control of the GM prior to lapses in judgment. For example, last year Greg Maddux was traded for Cesar Izturis. I'm sorry, but if that's the best the Dodgers have to offer for Maddux, I'd have let Maddux finish the season as a Cub. Just how valuable was Izturis to the Dodgers? They already had Kent and Furcal in the middle infield, and had already traded for Julio Lugo. Izturis was bench fodder. Hendry didn't play hardball. He caved like an umbrella in a wind storm. A complete nitpick-the Dodgers didn't trade for Lugo until right after the Izturis deal was done, and they were starting him everyday after he came back from his inury. So at the time of that deal, he was a starter for him, although struggling mightily trying to come back from the major surgery.

Even as you pointed out though-two of those Super Bowl games games, the defenses were practically the same-all it took was one garbage time drive in the regular season in one game, and only 2 out of the last 4 best defenses would have won the Super Bowl. Second, even though you posted the QB rankings for the losers, you didn't for the winners. I bet that the best QB won at least one of those games, and possibly a second. Third, the Bears have bad trend lines themselves. Common opponents favors the Colts, the overall AFC record against the NFC, and the fact that AFC playoff teams were a combined 21-3 against the NFC this year (I'm pretty sure of this stat, but it is second-hand). Fourth, the Colts playoff defense is different then the regular season-with Bob Sanders in there, it's like it's a completely different squad taking the field then before. Fifth, the Colts have been breaking trend lines all year. No team has finished the year as poorly as the Colts did and come back to go to the Superbowl. No team has made the Superbowl with as bad of a run defense ranking as the Colts. They took out Baltimore, and improved the dismal record of dome teams outside. Tom Brady was 12-1 as a playoff starter, and 10-0 inside a dome-the Colts broke those two trend lines as well. The Super Bowl won't be nearly as hard of a trend line as trends the Colts have faced previously. With that said, this should be a great game. The Bears have a great squad, and 1 or 2 big plays should make the difference. I'm confident enough in my squad to think they will make the plays, but the Bears are more than capable of making them as well.