Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts, and in particular, Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, and Tony Dungy. Although the entire team deserves recognition, I single out these three because they are consummate class acts, and as such it would be particularly disappointing for their great careers to be marred by the lack of a championship (although Dungy has won the big one as a player).
But with all due respect, Super Bowl XLI wasn’t only about the success of the Colts - the failures of the Chicago Bears deserves discussion as well.
Chicago’s defensive playcalling was abysmal. I simply could not understand why the Bears continued to keep the safeties deep and then drop the linebackers into deep coverage, even after Manning made it clear he was more than willing to pick apart the Chicago defense by dumping the ball off to Joseph Addai (10 catches, 66 yards) and Dallas Clark (4 catches, 36 yards). By the start of the fourth quarter, the damage was done: the Colts had run 69 offensive plays to the Bears’ 28, and the Chicago defense was as worn out as the worst sports cliche. After Rex Grossman threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted and returned for the game-breaking score, Manning only threw once more as the Colts shoved the ball right down the Bears’ tired throats.
The Bears’ front four was consistently blown off the line of scrimmage by the Indianapolis offensive line. So much for Chicago’s supposedly dominant defense. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes are certainly capable backs, but most figured that Peyton would have to beat the Chicago defense with his arm. Instead, Addai and Rhodes combined for 190 yards on the ground, another reason for Chicago’s late-game exhaustion.
And Rex Grossman must be thanking his lucky stars for Chad Morton and Tony Eason, or else we might be talking about the worst-ever Super Bowl performance by a quarterback. His stat line wasn’t horrible - 20 for 28, 165 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions - but blunders at critical times doomed his team. Down 16-14 late in the first half and with a chance to take the lead before halftime after an Indy fumble, Grossman gave it right back to the Colts by whiffing on a center-QB exchange. Down 19-14 in the third quarter, Grossman turned a 2nd-and-1 into a 4th-and-23 after two consecutive bumbling 11-yard losses, the second one due to another fumbled snap. Then, down 22-14 in the fourth quarter (still within one score!), Grossman threw two picked-off rainbows that would make the Lucky Charms leprechaun jealous, one of which was returned for the aforementioned game-breaking touchdown. If the MVP is the player who has the most profound impact on the outcome, Grossman deserves consideration, although not in the way he’d like. Bears fans have to wonder how much longer they will have to suffer through the Grossman experiment.
On the more positive side: Joseph Addai proved himself to be an up-and-coming star on the world’s biggest stage against a defense some consider to be the best in the league. Manning was the sentimental MVP choice and likely won the award based on his flawless game management, but Addai certainly deserved consideration as well. There were times in the second quarter when I felt Addai was taking over the game by himself - if he wasn’t gashing the Bears’ defense up the middle, he was catching dumpoffs in the flat and turning them into first downs. It likely would have been difficult to justify Addai’s MVP candidacy in the face of Rhodes’ higher rushing total, I suppose.
On a different note, it was refreshing to watch a Super Bowl played in inclement weather. I have long been a supporter of football played in the elements - it’s an outdoor game, and so weather should be a factor. It’s amusing to see that the weather didn’t cooperate this year, despite the league’s shunning of outdoor cold-weather venues in favor of domes and the tropics. And how ironic is it that the dome team seemed to be least affected by the sloppy conditions?
And finally, a note on the ads. Some were good, some were bad, some were puzzling in a “You just spent $2.6 million and that’s the best you can do?” sort of way. At least they’re starting to improve, with some of this year’s crop actually being laugh-out-loud funny like the Bud Light rock-paper-scissors ad. I’ve felt that after a few years of media hoopla about how millions watch solely for the commercials, the pressure has gotten to the advertising companies and they’ve responded with a bunch of duds. It’s nice to know that thanks to Budweiser and Coca-Cola, the Super Bowl is the one event where I’m sure to miss a pair of consecutive turnovers, a 52-yard run, AND a good commercial when the wife makes me let the dog out.
