It’s a Friday night, the Super Bowl is something like 72 hours away and I still cannot make up my mind about who is going to win. Will Payton Manning find a way past maybe the best defence in the NFL? Will the Colts find a way to shut down another great team with a great tandem of halfbacks?
More importantly – will Rex Grossman find a way to shut up his critics?
He enters this 41st Super Bowl game as maybe the most criticized starting quarterback since Joe Nameth. He has been chided on all sides for his inconstant play all season lone – from his infamous game against the Vikings on week 13 (1.3 QB rating, 31 completion percentage, 34 yards passing) to a brilliant game against the Giants on week 10 (3 TD, 246 yards, 105.7 rating).
Yes, he’s not the best QB in the league (not even close, I’ll admit). His play in the playoffs has been, well, spotty – two touchdowns in two games, only competing half of his passes, etc). But you know what? I believe in him.
And why shouldn’t I believe in him? It’s not a matter of him being good or bad – that doesn’t matter. He doesn’t need to be good to win games – just like he’s proven all year long. He has been exceptionally good this season and he’s been exceptionally bad this season – and still, the Bears won 13 games in the regular season and two more in the playoffs. Sure, he’s not as good as Payton Manning – but when his team is as good as it is, he doesn’t need to be (although, imagine if he was – what a team that would be, eh?).
Right now, Chicago is leading all teams in rushing yards per game (158) and points per game (33). While Indianapolis does have a good rush defence, they also allowed a big rushing day against New England – a team who’s running game is nowhere near as good as Chicago’s. Despite having a big advantage, statistically, over New England (they held the ball for more five more minutes, had almost twice as many first downs and had over 100 more yards offensively) they just squeaked out a win.
And that was against a team that finished the season tied with them (12-4) and scored almost 100 points less then them (New England scored 385 points, Indianapolis 427).
The Bears won more games (13-3), scored just as many points (427) and allowed more then 100 points less against them (255) then the Colts – clearly they’re just as good, if not better… So why are they seven point underdogs to a team that just barely beat New England?
I have no idea.
And that’s why I’m taking the Bears to win Super Bowl XLI.
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