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The Colts defense is not a bad Cover 2 defense against the pass. They struggled against the run all season, but they did very well against the pass. Also, the teams that can beat the Colts cover 2 are the ones who can do 3 step drops effectively and dink and dunk around the defense. Can Grossman do that? I'm not sure-but if he tries to take 5 and 7 step drops all day, Chicago better go max protection or else Freeney and Mathis will be a force on the outsides. Also, a key for the Colts passing defense may be the health of Nick Harper. He is easily the Colts best corner, and it will just have to be seen if the Colts will have him for this game.

A large part of that is simply the variability of pro football. Look at the Bears/Seahawks games and Colts/Patriots games for example. Did the Bears and the Colts really prove they were the better team? They deserve to go and possibly be called champions, definitely. At the same time, both of those games were so close that 1 play changed the outcome of the game entirely-when that's the case with teams, it's hard to say that somebody was really off by picking the other side. Isn't it amazing to think that if just 1 or 2 very small things go differently, this could be say a Chargers-Saints SB? I can tell you one thing, I'm glad that for this year, those things did not go differently :D. I guess the point is, predictions and prognostications are for all intents and purposes completely useless. As for proving you are the better team-----that's not the object of any sport, really. The object is to win the games necessary to become champions, any way you possibly can. By hook or crook, as they say. 8-) I personally feel the Colts and the Bears are both very deserving of being in the Super Bowl. Oh, I definitely agree that they are deserving-and you're correct, in a sport like football, predictions really mean nothing. There's too many variables during the game that can twist it around, and in a 1 game situation those variables become crucial to deciding the winner.

A large part of that is simply the variability of pro football. Look at the Bears/Seahawks games and Colts/Patriots games for example. Did the Bears and the Colts really prove they were the better team? They deserve to go and possibly be called champions, definitely. At the same time, both of those games were so close that 1 play changed the outcome of the game entirely-when that's the case with teams, it's hard to say that somebody was really off by picking the other side. Isn't it amazing to think that if just 1 or 2 very small things go differently, this could be say a Chargers-Saints SB? I can tell you one thing, I'm glad that for this year, those things did not go differently :D. What "very small thing" makes up a 25 point difference in the Saints game? The Seahawks have much more of a case for what you're talking about than New Orleans. I'm saying that the Seahwaks beat the Bears, and then I believe the Saints beat the Seahawks due to the matchups. That's why I didn't put the Seahawks in my Super Bowl matchup.

Probably not a first rounder, but he might get you a 2nd rounder. I wonder if any team would be interested in Jones and Wale together. How old is Jones? I wouldn't trade much for a backup RB as they are probably the easiest thing to find. Jones came into the league the same year as Urlacher, so he has been around a little while. I think he is definitly worth a #2 though. He is not a back-up running back. He would start for a lot of teams. 1300-1400 yard running backs are not that common. He did it last year, and he would have done it this year, but the Bears gave Benson a lot of carries towards the end of the season. Also if he can play well next Sunday and the Bears win the Super Bowl, his value goes up. The demand always seems to be higher for guys coming off a Super Bowl win. I think Wale can get us a 2nd round pick as well. I doubt Jones draws a second round pick. He compares very favorably to Travis Henry, who is the same age and came into the league a year after Jones. Jones' career numbers are 5,384 yards and 34 TDs and his best three seasons were (all w/Bears) 948, 1335 and 1210 yards. Henry's career numbers are 5,395 yards and 34 TDs and his best three seasons (2 w/Bills and this year w/Titans) were 1438, 1356 and 1211 yards. The Titans gave a third round pick and we paid much more than anybody was offering because we didn't want the Jags to acquire him. I think I recall the Jags being the top bidder before us, offering a fourth (I think). The only reason Jones might draw more is that the Bills had Willis McGahee and Henry was clearly the backup, Jones, while not clearly the backup, is being forced out by Benson. Both are starter material without much question, though I view Henry as slightly better. Agreed-especially since there were rumors that the Colts couldn't even get a second round pick for Edgerrin when he was trying to work out his own trade a little while ago-I doubt it's changed that much then to let Thomas Jones a 2nd rounder. The highest pick I think in a long while for a RB was a late 2nd for Dillon while in his late prime.

Pretty much every team goes through that funky 7 to 10 day stretch when they struggle. The key of course is to take advantage of that timeframe! Not when they are way better than the rest of the league. We didn't two years ago and I doubt Wiscy does this year. They've already squeaked by a couple of their conference opponents. If they keep letting their conference opponents get them down to the last 5 minutes with a tie game, eventually they are going to lose a couple of games.

A large part of that is simply the variability of pro football. Look at the Bears/Seahawks games and Colts/Patriots games for example. Did the Bears and the Colts really prove they were the better team? They deserve to go and possibly be called champions, definitely. At the same time, both of those games were so close that 1 play changed the outcome of the game entirely-when that's the case with teams, it's hard to say that somebody was really off by picking the other side. Isn't it amazing to think that if just 1 or 2 very small things go differently, this could be say a Chargers-Saints SB? I can tell you one thing, I'm glad that for this year, those things did not go differently :D.

He's the primary Bears beat writer at the Trib. I don't know the backstory, or his credibility. I would bet you a hundred dollars his primary motivation for such a story would be to create interest and get noticed in Indy (which would probably increase Trib sales in Indy). I do know his unibrow photo on the trib site freaks me out. Thanks for the info-most Colts fans I've talked to this morning don't think it's that bad, but it certainly has gotten a few mentions.

BTW, who's David Haugh, and how much credibility does he have? He has an article that appeared in our paper this morning about how the Bears are jumping for joy because they likely couldn't beat the Chargers or Patriots, but can beat the Colts. I just wondered what his backstory was.

But when players haven't produced in the past instead of getting rid of them, he's signed them to more than they are worth. I'm looking at you Glendon and Neifi. Neifi yes-I would argue with you about Glendon. Do you know how much money Glendon would have signed for if he had his 04 and 05 seasons before this offseason? It's almost scary to think about what 1 good year, and 1 league average year can make for you in the majors now. Of course, right after Hendry signed him Rusch finished falling apart entirely, but that's a different story for a different day.

He said (not that I necessarily agree with him) that Peyton got his demons out of the way in Belichek and Brady and should now be pretty loose in the Super Bowl. Grossman he still believes may have pressure over his job if he plays terribly, and plus Grossman doesn't have the experience that Peyton has to deal with the pressure. I think they each have different pressures-I'm not sure Reggie is correct, although his opinion is at least reasonable. Eh. I still don't know why theyre asking Reggie Miller. He of course said the Colts would destroy the Bears, which I think is false. I still always thought Peyton's pressure came from winning the Super Bowl, not just beating the Patriots. Last year they wouldn't have faced the Patriots at all but they still lost. I think there's more pressure on Manning now that he's finally gotten there and they're facing a team that everyone thinks they should roll over (which Im still failing to understand why). Anyways, I dont need to listen to some jagbag like jim rome or woody paige or jay mariotti. This season has been sweet so far, Im not gonna let those retards bring me down. Well, of course he is going to say the Colts are going to beat the Bears. He wasn't brought on for analysis or anything, Dan Patrick has him on every Monday at that same time, and of course this week he's going to ask him about the Colts game, and of course Reggie is going to say that the Colts are gong to win. It shouldn't really be given any weight as serious analysis or anything, just a fan's opinion really.

He said (not that I necessarily agree with him) that Peyton got his demons out of the way in Belichek and Brady and should now be pretty loose in the Super Bowl. Grossman he still believes may have pressure over his job if he plays terribly, and plus Grossman doesn't have the experience that Peyton has to deal with the pressure. I think they each have different pressures-I'm not sure Reggie is correct, although his opinion is at least reasonable.

Congrats Illinois. You played very good defense, and kept IU off balance the entire night, which exacerbated the poor shooting night by IU. Your crowd was hostile, but I was glad to see that they stayed clean with everything-just a good, hard Big 10 arena-thanks to your fanbase for that. Good luck in the rest of your season (except for when we meet you again of course :D).

A little different topic and a little lighter subject-who do you think will provide the best quotes at media day? I could see this as one of the more boring media days, as neither team has too many big talkers. Does anybody agree?

Also be careful blitzing Manning too much...he will make you pay. fixed What about Pittsburgh and San Diego last year? They blitzed him quite effectively. If you can conceal the blitzes well, (Which we don't do) and if you can get pressure on him (which doesn't always happen with our blitzes) then there is nothing wrong with blitzing him. In fact, we might have to end up blitzing him. If you cannot get pressure from the front 4, he'll pick your cover 2 apart. You can't sit in a zone against Manning. Pittsburgh and San Diego are both 3-4 defenses. 3-4 defenses have confused the offensive line in the past (see also the Dallas game from this year). The offensive line has never had much of a problem picking up blitzes from even the best 4-3 teams. It's a big thing in Indy before every game-the inevitable question, are they a 4-3 or a 3-4? I'm not saying the offensive line is perfect, but how an offense blocks a 4-3 and a 3-4 is a little different, and all the defenses the Colts have ever had trouble against are 3-4's. This is very true. The problems that Peyton has had in the past have all come from teams that run 3-4 defenses. I'm very afraid he'll pick our defense apart. Of course, I was afraid Drew Brees would, too. So we shall see, we shall see. We'll need another superhuman effort in this one. Don't the Jags run a 4-3 defense? Manning had a hard time with them. Jacksonville tends to run a 3-3-5 against the Colts, but that is probably a pretty good comparison to the Bears (when Jax is totally healthy). They tackle well, and they stop the run well. Manning's never had a problem with pressure against them, it's always been about finding receivers-and the game at Jax his receivers dropped I think 8 passes that day. :roll: That is very rolleyes worthy, bro. The Colts always have problems with the Jags, when was the last time they've scored more than 24 against them? EDIT: In the last 3 years he's scored: 17, 21, 26, 10, 24, 24 against the Jags Very impressive considering the tear he's been on. They've really hedged him in. Yes, the Jags have always held the Colts below their average, but the difference between those games and the game in Jax where there were 8 dropped passes is that most of those other games were won by the Colts. 3 or 4 times, they could have scored 30 if they had actually wanted to, but rather just started running the ball because they were winning the game. In Jax, they scored only 17 I think, and they got blown out-that's why I referenced that game in particular. The key to what the Jags do against the Colts is stopping the run with 3 defensive lineman (with Stroud and Henderson, that's not hard to do), which allows them to drop 7 or 8 into coverage while still getting decent pressure. If the Bears can do that, they will be in good shape. I personally don't think your D-line is that good with Harris out, but if it is they could easily hold the Colts down.

bowden fleeced both the rangers (for soriano...was he the gm then?) and the reds (for lopez and kearns). his team was operating with a significantly lower payroll than the cubs (and playing in a tougher division), and the nats won more games than the cubs. i'd probably rather have hendry than bowden, but it's not unthinkable that someone would rank him ahead of hendry. i don't know why hendry gets any kind of credit from anyone. since he's taken over the losses have increased each year (despite an increasing payroll) and the farm system has gone in the toilet. so he traded for ramirez and lee...what's that gotten him? While I'm going to try to stay out of the reasons for credit/blame for Hendry, the fact that the losses have increased each year under his tenure is just not correct. They increased for 2 years, and then dropped the next 2 years back to the level they were before Hendry. If they increase significantly next year, some of last year can be forgiven (he still didn't build a contending team, but it is possible that the injuries took the team from a .500 team to a terrible team). If the wins don't get the Cubs past the .500 mark this year, then Hendry just becomes someone who got the team to around .500-which is an improvement over the previous regime, but still not good enough to really make a difference.

BTW-one more interesting tidbit that's circulating today. The Colts have become the 5th team in postseason history to beat the #1 and #2 scoring defenses in the same postseason. If they beat the Bears, they will become the 1st team in history to beat #1, #2, and #3 in the same postseason.

Manning's actually one of the better QB's in the league under pressure due to his quick release and timing. Of course if you can consistently pressure him, it's going to be a much harder day for him, just like it will be for every QB. One thing that Manning has done a lot better this year though is throw on the run. Two great examples of this were the NYG and NE regular season games. Both teams had Manning running a decent amount (especially since the running attack hadn't fully gelled then) and Manning was making much better passes while on the move then ever before. I still do agree though on bringing pressure against Manning. At least you have a chance at flustering him then-sit back in the zone, and the Colts will play ball control up and down the field.

Also be careful blitzing Manning too much...he will make you pay. fixed What about Pittsburgh and San Diego last year? They blitzed him quite effectively. If you can conceal the blitzes well, (Which we don't do) and if you can get pressure on him (which doesn't always happen with our blitzes) then there is nothing wrong with blitzing him. In fact, we might have to end up blitzing him. If you cannot get pressure from the front 4, he'll pick your cover 2 apart. You can't sit in a zone against Manning. Pittsburgh and San Diego are both 3-4 defenses. 3-4 defenses have confused the offensive line in the past (see also the Dallas game from this year). The offensive line has never had much of a problem picking up blitzes from even the best 4-3 teams. It's a big thing in Indy before every game-the inevitable question, are they a 4-3 or a 3-4? I'm not saying the offensive line is perfect, but how an offense blocks a 4-3 and a 3-4 is a little different, and all the defenses the Colts have ever had trouble against are 3-4's. This is very true. The problems that Peyton has had in the past have all come from teams that run 3-4 defenses. I'm very afraid he'll pick our defense apart. Of course, I was afraid Drew Brees would, too. So we shall see, we shall see. We'll need another superhuman effort in this one. Don't the Jags run a 4-3 defense? Manning had a hard time with them. Jacksonville tends to run a 3-3-5 against the Colts, but that is probably a pretty good comparison to the Bears (when Jax is totally healthy). They tackle well, and they stop the run well. Manning's never had a problem with pressure against them, it's always been about finding receivers-and the game at Jax his receivers dropped I think 8 passes that day.

Also be careful blitzing Manning too much...he will make you pay. fixed What about Pittsburgh and San Diego last year? They blitzed him quite effectively. If you can conceal the blitzes well, (Which we don't do) and if you can get pressure on him (which doesn't always happen with our blitzes) then there is nothing wrong with blitzing him. In fact, we might have to end up blitzing him. If you cannot get pressure from the front 4, he'll pick your cover 2 apart. You can't sit in a zone against Manning. Pittsburgh and San Diego are both 3-4 defenses. 3-4 defenses have confused the offensive line in the past (see also the Dallas game from this year). The offensive line has never had much of a problem picking up blitzes from even the best 4-3 teams. It's a big thing in Indy before every game-the inevitable question, are they a 4-3 or a 3-4? I'm not saying the offensive line is perfect, but how an offense blocks a 4-3 and a 3-4 is a little different, and all the defenses the Colts have ever had trouble against are 3-4's.

It is interesting-of course, it's hard to differentiate homefield from grass-especially since the Colts only played 3 games on turf that were not their home field. Miami is also said to have the best grass field in the league, and with the SB that grass will be the most like turf that it ever is going to get.

I've heard nothing yet on which sprain it is-I'll post as soon as I know, because you're certainly right in that it could possibly make a very big difference in the game.

The guy did put up the greatest 3rd receiver season in the history of the NFL and is considered the fastest receiver on the team-I don't know if I'd go that far to call him a scrub. He is a loss though that the Colts have been prepared for, and it just means that the Colts go 2 tight ends more often then usual, and put Wayne in the slot a little more than usual. The Colts will run just a few different formations. If Moorehead is in the game, he will line up on the outside and Wayne in the slot. Sometimes they line up Clark in the slot and Wayne on the outside, and other times they will just have the traditional 2 tight end look. Only on short yardage situations will you see the Colts really ever go to a fullback, and that of course is now Klecko.

It's both. It was an exceptionally bad game for the kick coverage, but it still is not good on a consistent basis. I'd expect the Bears to get one past the 50, and most of their returns will go to between the 30-40. That will certainly help the Bears if the Colts players cannot return to how they were handling kickoffs in both the Chiefs and Ravens games.

I don't think that's true at all, especially on this board, where fans tend to be more informed than the average fan. From what I've seen, the Bears have the best defense in the league, but a below-average quarterback and an offensive line that isn't always good enough to keep pressure off him - which is when he really struggles. I think the Colts will win because I think they're a bad matchup for the Bears - they're the best passing team in the league, and that's where the Bears can be beat. I hope for the Bears' sake that they don't buy into the "let's just run the ball all game like Jacksonville did" bull. This isn't 1994-95 Nebraska versus Baylor, these are two really good NFL teams playing in the Super Bowl. I'd like for the Super Bowl to be competitive, especially since I won't be able to watch until the second half. Actually, New Orleans was the best passing team in the league, and it didn't help them much. In passing yards, yes, but Indy is certainly the more efficient passing team. The game was played in weather not conducive to throwing the ball a lot, and the Saints were missing Joe Horn, who's either their best or second-best receiving threat. The Colts have all their receivers healthy and unless there's a front near south Florida, the weather shouldn't slow down the Colts' passing attack. I thought Stokely was out for the year. He is, but he only played in 4 games all year, and in 3 of those he got hurt in the middle of it, so the Colts haven't even ever really tried to run their offense with him this year.

I don't think that's true at all, especially on this board, where fans tend to be more informed than the average fan. From what I've seen, the Bears have the best defense in the league, but a below-average quarterback and an offensive line that isn't always good enough to keep pressure off him - which is when he really struggles. I think the Colts will win because I think they're a bad matchup for the Bears - they're the best passing team in the league, and that's where the Bears can be beat. I hope for the Bears' sake that they don't buy into the "let's just run the ball all game like Jacksonville did" bull. This isn't 1994-95 Nebraska versus Baylor, these are two really good NFL teams playing in the Super Bowl. I'd like for the Super Bowl to be competitive, especially since I won't be able to watch until the second half. Actually, New Orleans was the best passing team in the league, and it didn't help them much. In passing yards, yes, but Indy is certainly the more efficient passing team. The game was played in weather not conducive to throwing the ball a lot, and the Saints were missing Joe Horn, who's either their best or second-best receiving threat. The Colts have all their receivers healthy and unless there's a front near south Florida, the weather shouldn't slow down the Colts' passing attack. Well, I wouldn't say all our recievers healthy (Stokely is out for the year, and Proehl hasn't played in weeks), but I get your point that the main threats for the Colts are still there. Harrison, Wayne, Clark, and Addai, with Moorehead, Utecht, and Fletcher thrown in. The Colts were definitely the more efficient passing team all year, while the Saints were unbelievable on the big plays. Unfortunately, big plays cannot develop if the QB doesn't get time, and Chicago did a very good job of forcing the ball out of the hand of Brees before he was ready. The Colts are much more of an intermediate passing team than a deep passing team though, and are more prepared for pressure.