The Colts Win the Super Bowl

Colts fans - you can exhale now. Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, and the rest of the Indianapolis organization delivered on their previously unfulfilled promise and won Super Bowl XLI in sound fashion tonight, 29-17 over the Chicago Bears.

This game was the final step in the evolution of the Indianapolis Colts to championship status. No longer are they the thrill-a-minute offense that scores 3 touchdowns in the span of 5 minutes to the detriment of its overworked defense. It's not that they're not capable; instead, they collectively realized that method wasn't going to win them a championship. Tonight, they took what they were given by the Bears' play-it-safe Cover 2 defense and mixed pass with run to perfection. Manning has seemed more unstoppable and awe-inspiring in the past, but in the last two games, he has never been better, and it resulted in a well-deserved championship.

Some of my thoughts watching the game:

-The final score will read 29-17, but in reality, it was never that close. The Bears put together one good drive the entire game, the one that resulted in the Muhsin Muhammad touchdown that put Chicago up 14-6. And even that was aided by a short field provided by an Indianapolis turnover. They exploited the one matchup they had a clear advantage in - their return game vs. the Colts' cover unit - to the tune of a Devin Hester TD return, but in every other way, the Bears were dominated. Both Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes were able to cut through the vaunted Chicago defense with regularity, allowing Indianapolis to chew up the clock, methodically breaking the Bears' spirits. The defense continued its shocking postseason turnaround and came up big in the second half.

- Speaking of chewing up the clock, the game turned to the Colts' for good on their first possession of the second half. Even though it only resulted in a field goal, it took 13 plays and extended for the better part of the third quarter. That wore down the Bears defense and prevented the Bears offense from ever getting back into rhythm, a fact that was punctuated by the ugly play of QB Rex Grossman later in the half.

-Speaking of Grossman, as much as the Bears depend on the running game to drive the offense and at points tend to take the game out of his hands, they, like any other team, need their QB to make at least a couple big plays to have any ability to win the game. Even back in 2001 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer, a QB who was thought of as the weak link, he made some plays that won the game for them. Rex was never able to do that in this game and turned the ball over 3 times to boot. He's sure to be one of the most highly scrutinized players in the NFL when next season starts.

-Adam Vinatieri has now played in 5 Super Bowls, 4 with the Patriots and 1 with the Colts, and he has been part of teams that have beaten representatives from all 4 NFC divisions: as member of the Patriots, he helped to defeat the Rams of the NFC West, Panthers of the NFC South, and Eagles of the NFC East. Now his Colts team victimized the Bears of the NFC North. Useless tidbit, I know, but interesting to me.

-Classy move by Colts owner Jim Irsay during the trophy presentation to take a moment to reflect on the natural disaster in some Florida communities this past week and offer assistance on behalf of the organization. Nice to see there's a sense of perspective there amid the elation.

-I noticed today that during pre-game intros, both the Bears and Colts went out as a team instead of having individual player introductions. I know this is now the norm ever since the Patriots did it in 2002, and I applaud the new standard of glorifying the team instead of individuals. However, I wonder if the part of the motive for doing so is fear of being portrayed as selfish and individualistic, as the Rams were unfairly pictured in that 2002 Super Bowl when they had individual player introductions.

-As far as game MVP, you can't argue too much with Peyton Manning on a night when it was truly a team effort that won Indianapolis the championship. However, if it was up to me, I would have given the MVP to both Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes, the Colts' running backs. Their ability to routinely break plays of 6, 7, 8 yards or longer was the key to the offense tonight.

-Chalk up another Super Bowl win for the AFC - that makes 4 in a row and 8 out of the last 10 Super Bowls won by the conference. And nothing leads me to think that the significant disparity between the NFC and AFC will change much heading into next year. But despite the win, I would say that the Bears have a better shot than the Colts at getting back to the big game next year just because the competition in the AFC is so fierce that it'll be tough to do two years in a row.

Tony Dungy and the Colts' Final Step

After two long weeks, the Super Bowl is finally just a day away. Instead of trying to break down the game (which would be a fruitless endeavor - go to the real experts on that), I just wanted to be able to write a post expressing my rooting interest for the Colts tomorrow. And it's really nothing against the Chicago Bears - got nothing against them. But it would be so much more satisfying for me to see the Colts win, because it would be the culmination of a long road to success that has been filled with obstacles that could have crippled others. And naturally, a win would taste especially sweet for their venerable leader, Head Coach Tony Dungy.

Much like the Pittsburgh Steelers (in fact, when you look at the two teams and the paths they took to championship status, they're almost mirror images of one another) last year, an Indianapolis win would confirm that you always have a chance when you dig deep and believe in the seemingly impossible.

Who believed that they were championship material at the start of these playoffs, when the defense played like a sieve and they were up against a formidable AFC field? Who believed that they could come back from an 18 point deficit against their longtime tormentors in the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game? And who believed that even with a 38-34 lead in the final minute of the AFC Championship, they would win with the balance of the game in the hands of the Colts defense going against Tom Brady?

Obviously, the Colts believed in themselves - if they didn't, they wouldn't be at the point they're at now. And that's a testament to the leadership that Coach Dungy has provided. In my opinion, getting his team, and himself to persevere and learn from years of professional near-misses and personal tragedies and win a Super Bowl would be a more impressive accomplishment than coaching a team that suddenly rose up and won it all in the span of a year, a la the 1999 Rams.

If the Colts lose, from everything I've heard about Dungy, I feel confident saying that he would not let the loss define him or his legacy - not that he particularly cares about his "legacy." He's too well-rounded of a man to let that happen. But for a man that has gone through the struggles that he has gone through in recent years (watching his old team, the Buccaneers win a Super Bowl the year after he was fired; enduring the Colts' series of playoff failures in recent years; most significantly, somehow carrying on after the suicide of his son last year), he deserves to have a taste of the other side. After putting in all the work that he has, and maintaining his faith in more difficult circumstances than any of us would care to do, it only seems right that he get to have the incomparable feeling of having won a Super Bowl.

If the Colts do in fact win, I hope people will take more from it than just the thrill of having watched a Super Bowl victory. I know that I'll be looking at it as confirmation that no matter how hopeless it seems, any obstacle can be overcome with strength of will and belief in yourself and those around you.

Game of the Year, Part II

What a weekend of seeming oxymorons in the AFC. On Saturday, the Colts, one of the statistically worst rush defenses in the history of the National Football League out-slugged a Baltimore Ravens team with stars all over the defensive side of the ball in an uncharacteristically ugly 15-6 win.

Then on Sunday, the New England Patriots, who if you listened to the media last week, would have you think that aside from Tom Brady, they have less talent than your local Pop Warner team, came from behind to defeat a supremely talented Chargers team that had made come-from-behind wins one of their staples this season. (And what a cruel turn for (at the moment) Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, who must feel like Charlie Brown getting the football taken out from under him by Lucy over and over again.)

And now, the two old nemeses meet again in the playoffs, for the third time in four years, for the AFC Championship, which for a lot of people, will be tantamount to the Super Bowl, given the weak state of the NFC. But this time, the Colts get the Pats on their own turf, the RCA Dome, where they were unbeatable this season. This time they won't have to deal with the extreme New England elements that helped to doom them in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs.

That's just one reason why I like Indianapolis to finally break through and reach the Super Bowl after so many years of frustration. As Tom Brady reaffirmed for everyone on Sunday, picking against him usually ensures that you will look like a fool, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Though the stakes were much lower, the Colts have shown that they are capable of beating the mighty Pats by taking the last two regular season meetings. While they still have quite a lot to prove, those two wins shouldn't be forgotten - the Colts surely won't be shaking in their boots when it's time to take the field.

Second, it seems like Indianapolis has finally learned how to play winning playoff football. They've showed the last two games that they don't need Peyton Manning to play spectacularly in order to win. Particularly in the Ravens game, they've shown that they just need him to make plays when it counts, (to be Tom Brady-like in a sense), and the suddenly stout defense and run game will bring it home. Unlike the 2003 team, an offensive juggernaut that stormed into New England for the AFC Championship with their hair on fire only to be meekly put away on a cold day, this team can win ugly, and it may take that against New England.

Lastly, and most importantly, the Colts look to have the resolve of a team that has learned from its past mistakes and the hunger to prove everyone wrong who doubted them. The late-season slump they suffered may in the end be their best friend, because it has forced them to dig down and find out what they are really made of. And right now, they've shown to be a resilient team that has the ability to go all the way.

The Cinderella Colts Get it Done Again

It's a team that is the first in NFL history to start consecutive seasons 9-0 and has arguably the preeminent quarterback in the game. Yet, it seems appropriate to label the suddenly tough Indianapolis Colts a bona fide Cinderella story after their 15-6 slugfest upset win over the talkative Baltimore Ravens.

The Colts shed their two biggest demons of the 2006 season with their performance in this win:

First, their struggles on the road this season, which included a couple of embarrassing losses to the Texans and the Jaguars. And they were facing a stadium full of Ravens fans out for blood, still bitter about the Colts' departure from Baltimore more than two decades ago. That's about as hostile of an environment as it gets.

And even with the D's impressive showing against Larry Johnson and the Chiefs last week, it was widely thought that the unit wouldn't be able to sustain it two weeks in a row, surely not when you give the Ravens a lot of time to prepare, which they had with the bye.

The most impressive part about it was that Peyton Manning, by anyone's standards, had a fairly mediocre game. Instead, they did what you have to do to win playoff games: they played tough defense, got great special teams play, and ran the ball to perfection, never better than in their stunning and methodical game-clinching drive to essentially run out the clock in the fourth quarter. If any game was an affirmation of their off-season moves, namely signing clutch kicker Adam Vinatieri and entrusting the running game to Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes, it was this one.

As a native of Maryland (though I'm first and foremost a Redskins fan), logic dictated that I should have been rooting for the Ravens. But to be honest, I couldn't help but smile seeing the reaction on the sidelines when Vinatieri kicked the game-clinching field goal. None was better than the jubilant yet characteristically understated expression on Tony Dungy's face. After the personal tragedy and professional failure he had to endure at the end of the 2005 playoffs, not to mention a rep as a coach that can't win the big one, it's nice to see him advancing in the playoffs with a chance to play for the Super Bowl.

Recapping a Busy Football Weekend

Now, things are starting to get interesting. If you're a football fan, of both the college and pro game, this is when you can really start discussing the battle for postseason positioning in earnest. With the college football season approaching its final couple of weeks and the NFL season rounding the bend into its final stages, there's hardly a more interesting time to speculate about who'll get in to the desired postseason spots and who'll be left out. With that said, here are some of the biggest stories of the weekend:

- We don't have to speculate about one thing. Ohio State will be playing in the national championship game in January. And boy, good luck stopping that offense. Michigan came into the game riding its reputation as one of the staunchest defensive teams in the country, with a unit full of potential future pros. Whole lot of good that did them on Saturday, when Troy Smith and his arsenal of weapons carved up the Wolverine defense to the tune of 42 points. The offense is so explosive and so varied in its attack, and they have the ideal quarterback in Smith acting as maestro. Another reason why you have to like the Buckeyes' chances regardless of who they play: Ohio State is 4-1 in bowl games under Jim Tressel. He will have his team prepared to play under the brightest of lights.

- The BCS rankings that were released today have Michigan still at #2 over USC, a bit of a surprise. However, don't go thinking that a rematch is certainly in the works. The Wolverines hold a slim .075 margin over USC for the #2 spot, and while Michigan's season is complete, the Trojans still have games against Notre Dame and UCLA. If they win both, they'll likely leapfrog Michigan for #2 and earn the chance to play Ohio State in the title game.

And in the NFL.....

- The Colts were bound to lose some time, and better for them to lose on the road to an NFC opponent, than to a team in their own conference. And while they still have the inside track on homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, they need to figure out a way to improve their rush defense between now and the playoffs, because if they don't, they will be toast, Peyton Manning or not. Looking down the road, they need to hope that they don't face the Chargers in the playoffs because LaDainian Tomlinson could make short work of the Colts defense the way he's playing now.

- Speaking of Tomlinson, there is no doubt that he is the front runner for league MVP at this point in the season. He has 20 touchdowns already, only 10 games into the season, on pace for 32, which would easily surpass the record of 28 TDs set by Shaun Alexander of the Seahawks just last year. The amazing thing is that everyone knows he's going to get the ball in the red zone and he still scores 3 or 4 touchdowns per game. Amazing how 6 years ago, everyone blasted the Chargers for trading the top overall draft pick and the chance to take Michael Vick. Well, all they ended up with was a Hall of Fame-to-be running back in Tomlinson, while Vick is now scrutinized ad nauseum for his quarterbacking style.

- While he won't win the award, it might be time to include San Francisco running back Frank Gore in discussions for league MVP. In the biggest game of the year for the 49ers, he came up huge with 212 yards in a 20-14 upset of the Seahawks. Don't look now, but the young Niners are only a game out of first place and can be considered serious contenders for a playoff spot in the NFC. Gore is leading a talented offensive nucleus that is getting better by the week. He is already over 1,000 yards for the season and is impressively averaging over 5 yards per carry.

And it only gets better from here - 3 games on Thanksgiving and more big-time rivalry games in college football this weekend in addition to the normal NFL action on Sundays.