Some quick thoughts on yesterday's game...
-Let's start with Rex Grossman, who will get the share of the blame for this loss, especially in Chicago, where Brian Griese (and Kyle Orton) must be suddenly imagining a happier future. Though the reality is Jeff George will probably be the biggest winner of Rex's fourth quarter breakdown.
His remarkable ability to turn over the ball, whether via his Yepremian-like fumbles or his high arc-ing ducks that were intercepted in the fourth, will be Rex's legacy. Still, a chunk of the blame should go to the Bears' coaching staff - their offensive play selection was awful and predictable. They couldn't build off their quick start (14-6 lead after the 1st quarter), choosing to go with predictable straight ahead runs (no play action passing, no outside runs), until 3rd down, where the Colts could just let Rex try to make a play. The lack of play action was surprising, especially considering the knock on the Colts defense all year long has been their inability to stop the run... at least make them prove it, instead of running straight into a stacked line. Plus the Colts have a slow side-to-side front line; beat them to the corner, force the cornerbacks/safeties to play closer to the line, perhaps opening up the deep bomb. Sigh.
The game overall was incredibly sloppy, thanks mostly to the rain. There were a total of eight turnovers by both teams (five by the Bears). It will not go down as a great or even good Super Bowl.
Despite being surrounded by mostly Colts fans at the party, the naming of Peyton Manning as MVP drew tons of boos. Seriously, wtf? Addai and Rhodes were both more worthy, as Peyton threw only one TD, had one inception (bringing his postseason total to 7), and made most of his throws underneath (Addai = 10 receptions). Nothing against The Notorious Advertising Whore, but it is clear that the MVP is chosen by the marketing people of Disney, not actual observers of the game.
And along those lines, Peyton may have finally won the big games (both beating the Pats two weeks ago and yesterday), but let's get it right: the Colts won, not Peyton. This was a team effort - the swiss cheese defense suddenly got it together, and caught some breaks (both the Chiefs and the Bears refused to even try to stretch the defense; only the Pats did, hence they scored almost 40 points). The running backs, particularly rookie Joseph Addai, stepped up big in the playoffs. Peyton turned the ball over quite a bit, but he did hold his own overall, especially in the 4th quarter against the Pats. Congrats to the team, but... and I hate to sound like Simmons... but I would still take Brady over Peyton come playoff time.
But I would take Peyton (or even poor Sorgi Porgy) over Rex Grossman.
Oh, and Prince was on fire yesterday. It's good to see he can still get his Diva on. I was expecting watered-down Jehovah's Witness Prince, but there was definitely some vintage Prince in his performance yesterday. Purple Rain, indeed. It will go down as one of the best halftime performances ever.
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