Da Bears

They don't have a great QB, RB, WR or offense for that matter. They're special teams are very good and their defense is outstanding.

Are they going to be the next Ravens team to win the superbowl?

 

Their defense isn't nearly as good as the '00 Ravens. They haven't been very good lately, at all. Good point about Hester, though, because the Colts have been dreadful at covering kicks. That should be a big advantage for Chicago.

I'm pretty sure Indy will win this game, but I haven't decided by how much.

 

Too much hype for the defense that was. I hope Indy wins, well because most people I know from Chicago are, well Jerkoffs!

 

The Colts were an inconsistent team down the stretch during the season. Most people seem to forget this. These are their last five games:



Titans 20
Colts 17

Jaguars 44
Colts 17

Bengals 16
Colts 34

Texans 27
Colts 24

Dolphins 22
Colts 27

I think that the Colts present a better matchup for the Bears than the Patriots (or any other AFC team) because of a vulnerable run defense, spotty kickoff coverage and struggling quarterback play of late—by Peyton Manning standards.

Manning has been more mistake-prone in January than usual, throwing six interceptions and just two touchdown passes in the playoffs. Nevertheless, he still has completed 63 percent of his passes in the postseason and rallied the Colts to a historic 18-point comeback victory in the AFC championship game.

But the Bears find hope in the numbers that show Manning has thrown an interception once every 19 attempts in the playoffs compared to one every 62 in the regular season. The Bears can build parts of a defensive game plan around the idea that in postseason third-and-long situations, Manning has completed only 45 percent of his passes and has thrown three interceptions, according to STATS. They can rally around the idea that if they fall behind, four of Manning's six postseason interceptions have come when the Colts have led by a touchdown or less.

The Bears can start practice without being intimidated by the best quarterback in the NFL after a game in which they held the NFC's No. 1 offense to 14 points.

Then, there is riddel's good point: the Colts' kickoff coverage unit has given up an average of 24.3 yards per kickoff return in the playoffs, offering more promise to the Bears. Devin Hester hasn't been the same returner in January that he was during the regular season but will be playing in the city he earned the nickname "Anytime," at the University of Miami.

All of this gives me hope that the Bears will pull off an upset at the SB. If not, we'll back in 20-25 years. Go Bears! :newsmile:

 

I'm pulling for the Colts...bigtime

I want Dungy to get his ring. He built an excellent team in Tampa and they shit canned him while making the playoffs, and then losing his son last year, he almost didn't come back. It's good to see Dungy in there.

I want Manning to get his ring. He's the model for how a football player should want to be like. He works hard, he handles a lot of critism.

I think the Colts defense is under-rated too. If the Colts get an early lead, they can pin their ears back with the best of them.

The only way I see the Bears winning this game is if they can win the turnover battle 3-1, and I hope this game doesn't come down to turnovers. I want to see a great football game. It's going to be an exciting game.

But midway through the 4th Q, I want to see Manning make the drive to put it away.

 

I would agree 100% - if the Colts weren't playing the Bears. I would root for the Colts for all the reasons you mentioned above if they were playing the Saints, Seahawks, Eagles, Giants, etc.

Even now, I'll be pulling for my Bears big time. However, if they lose, I'll be glad Dungy and Manning will get theirs.

 

oh...and I can't fucking stand Lovie Smith

 

Good for you.

He's just the same as Dungy. Same personal beliefs, same coaching style, same system; only difference is that Dungy has more experience as a head coach.

 

he's a lot blacker, has less hair, and no humility whatsoever

and i wish somebody would smack that canary eating smirk off his fucking doushbag face

but yeah, other than that, their twins

 

You are so way off base on your judgment. But hey, I understand you don't like the Bears and so it clouds your judgment about the coach.

Here are excerpts from an article about Coach Smith (not that I expect you to change your mind).You probably won't read the following because you want to continue thinking the way you do. No problem. You're welcome to stick your head in the sand. Most people do.

***********

More than anything, Tank Johnson needed to know he wasn't alone.

Johnson had just lost his best friend, Willie B. Posey, in a nightclub shooting and feared he was close to losing his spot on the Bears' roster after defying team orders following a weapons arrest. That's when Lovie Smith picked up the phone to pick up his defensive tackle's spirits.

Smith and Tony Dungy will become the first African-American head coaches to lead teams into the Super Bowl when the Bears play the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium in Miami.

Their roles as NFL pioneers will leave a rich legacy for both franchises, and the coaches' race might even help them relate to players in a league in which African-Americans occupy 67 percent of roster spots, according to Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

But the two men of quiet strength, bonded by five years together on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff and similar Christian beliefs, hope the necessary focus on their skin color doesn't overlook a shared coaching style evident in Smith's phone call to a troubled Johnson.

"He called me and said, 'Hey, Big Guy, how are you doing? I'm going to call you every day through this process to make sure you're OK,'" Johnson recalled. "That means a lot when you're on pins and needles about a lot of things in your life. But it's that kind of thing that makes Lovie different. He's a coach who listens a lot."

When fullback Jason McKie asked to miss practice to attend his sister's graduation, Smith listened to how important it was to McKie and let him. Would Bill Parcells, McKie's coach in Dallas during the 2002 season, have been as understanding?

"Maybe," McKie said, smiling. "But he would probably give me more heck about it than Lovie did."

When rookie safety Danieal Manning started feeling a little lost in the big city and the bigger world of an NFL starter, Smith related his own small-town Texas upbringing to the Corsicana native and helped pull him through. "Coach Lovie understood me," Manning said. "He understands us."

Whenever Rex Grossman sought reassurance during an occasionally trying season, Smith invited him into an office that doesn't require appointments.

"One of the first things Lovie said to me when I got here last year was he wanted to be involved with the players' lives and wanted to know how they're doing so he has an open-door policy," wide receiver Rashied Davis said. "Some coaches, it's us against the coaches. You just don't feel that here."

In Indianapolis, Colts players who have described similar experiences with Dungy this week feel the same way. And from whom do you think Smith adopted the policy?...
...Under another head coach, Smith's folksy style with players might have been perceived as soft and enabling. Like Dungy, Smith doesn't cuss or berate players in public. He doesn't wake up at 4 a.m. to watch film or waste any more time expanding his media profile than the league requires...

...Smith took copious mental notes for five seasons in Tampa as Dungy practiced what he preached. On Wednesdays during the season Dungy would invite the assistants' families to the team's facility for dinner to provide some balance in a profession lacking it.

The interest Smith takes in the lives of Bears players and coaches comes from the heart. But the courage to show it at the NFL level comes partly from his experience working for Dungy...

...There's so much of Coach Dungy in him, it's unbelievable," said Detroit Lions coach Rod Marinelli, a former Tampa Bay assistant who shared a hotel room with Smith during training camp in '96. "He has this demeanor very close to Coach Dungy—very, very close. You have to understand how strong Lovie is. That quiet, Big Sandy (Texas) approach. But there is some strength there and he's got a good case of stubbornness to him." ...

..."There is this stereotype of how all coaches have to behave, what you're supposed to be and that isn't the case," Smith said. "I just think guys should be who they are. One of the things I got from Tony is you can win a lot of different ways and whatever your approach is, just believe in it, get the guys to buy into it and you can accomplish anything."

One of Sunday's head coaches will get their guys to buy into the game plan well enough to become Super Bowl champions. But no matter who wins, neither will feel like a loser given the changes their roles in a Super Bowl could trigger in their sport and in society.

"You're not going to hear Lovie talk about it too much because he's a humble guy, Gilmore said. "But I think when the Super Bowl is over and if we handle our business, there will come a day when Lovie is by himself in a quiet room and it's going to hit him and like, Wow. If it were me, I'd shed a tear."