1. Congratulations to the Colts. To me, the biggest change they made in this year's postseason compared to past years was emphasizing the running game. Why they didn't do that with the Edge, I'll never know.
In their last playoff loss to the Patriots (early 2005), the Colts lost partly because of New England's defense, but the real key was the Pats' ability to control the clock, especially in the second half. In the AFC Championship two weeks ago, the Colts turned the table, and they rode the same formula to success today.
2. The key to any major football championship is surrendering a kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game.
3. What a start for the Bears. First, Devin Hester takes it to the house with a breathtaking return. (Okay, now seriously, of course you'd take the touchdown-but it's too bad it came so early, because Indy was so cautious kicking the rest of the way. Would two long returns that weren't touchdowns have been better?)
Indy got the touchdown to Wayne, but blew the PAT, which could have easily been a bigger deal late. So the Bears still caught a break. Then former C.U. ward power forward Alex Brown broke into Indy's backfield and forced a fumble that led to Muhsin Muhammed's touchdown and a 14-6 lead. Who knew that was the beginning of the end?
(Not me. But it's funny to look back on my notes from the game. The Bears got first-and-goal after Thomas Jones' 52-yard run. They called two runs, gained nothing, and then had to pass, scoring on that throw to Muhammed. I noted at the time that it wasn't much for play-calling. Little did I know what a sign it was of overly-conservative things to come.)
4. Thomas Jones played like Michael Pittman of the Buccaneers did four years ago. Both were busts for the Arizona Cardinals, but both played huge in the Super Bowl. Jones only had fifteen carries, though, which explains how the Colts held him to 112 yards.
5. Rex Grossman was as advertised. (I was wrong; everyone else was right.) I had a good debate with my brother about which of his fourth-quarter interceptions was worse. I favored the first one's unbelievable hangtime towards the sideline, but you can't take anything away from his second pick, a hot-air balloon deep down the middle into double coverage.
6. Quick stop for the ads (watch them online if you don't follow me). First, that Grand Theft Auto/Coca-Cola commercial was tremendous, if only because it reminded me of my old roommate Sam, who once played GTA on my PlayStation and asked how to pick up all the litter strewn on the streets. The second was the Sales Genie ad, which might have been the greatest commercial of all-time. I would hate to meet anyone who was actually impressed by it. Oh, and that GM ad about the yellow assembly-line machine that loses its job and throws itself off a bridge-that was freakin' disturbing.
7. Do I have to mention Peyton Manning? Yes? Then he shouldn't have been MVP-I thought both running backs made more big plays in the second half. I'm not at all surprised he got the MVP with a Colts victory. Of course, who really cares who got that award-either way, he finally got his ring.
8. Adam Vinatieri did miss and even worse, it came after an icing timeout. I hate those-they never work-but they'll obviously be all the rage again next year. Like the bad-snap PAT, though, it didn't end up mattering.
9. Oh, yeah-in the first quarter, Nantz pointed out that on one play, Bears defenders Danieal and Ricky Manning were in the game, and it must have reminded Peyton of playing with Eli and Cooper growing up. Um, I can think of a big reason why it wouldn't have, but more to the point, this is emblematic of one of the reasons I hate Manning. I am so sick of being force-fed him, especially anecdotes about his family. Here's an example-I'm a much bigger fan of Brett Favre or Tom Brady and honestly, I couldn't tell you if either one even has a brother. I'm definitely not going to get teary-eyed remembering Peyton's childhood while I'm watching the Super Bowl, you know?
The craziest part is that Cooper, before an injury ended his playing days, was a wide receiver. His brothers are two of the slowest players in the whole league! I don't get it.
10. For me, one of the weird things about watching a Colts game is seeing offensive coordinator Tom Moore. Okay, Peyton Manning handles a lot of the play-calling and all that. But the Colts have been, over the last several years, an incredibly productive offensive team.
Bear with me for a sec. When Shaq and Kobe were on the same team, you'd hear the announcers drone on about the Lakers even during a Bucks-Clippers game. When the Rams ruled the NFL world, you'd hear about them every time, say, a Dolphins receiver ran for several yards after a catch (as though advancing the football was a revolutionary concept). Now when analysts and experts talk about football, you always hear about Peyton Manning. "He's obviously the top quarterback in the league," they'll say-even though he's not.
My point is, the Colts don't suffer for attention. But you almost never hear about Tom Moore as one of the league's best coaches, even though he's putting up a heck of a track record. Why is that? I guess it's just because he's old, and I suppose I don't really care if he gets more pub-but it's just kind of weird. Usually people on winning teams get too much attention, not too little.
11. Again, I don't like the Colts, but they did win. I've got to say, though, that this Super Bowl reminded me a lot of last year's. For what it's worth, I don't think the Steelers and Colts rank very high among other champions, including recent teams like the Patriots or even the Rams and Ravens.
In their last playoff loss to the Patriots (early 2005), the Colts lost partly because of New England's defense, but the real key was the Pats' ability to control the clock, especially in the second half. In the AFC Championship two weeks ago, the Colts turned the table, and they rode the same formula to success today.
2. The key to any major football championship is surrendering a kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game.
3. What a start for the Bears. First, Devin Hester takes it to the house with a breathtaking return. (Okay, now seriously, of course you'd take the touchdown-but it's too bad it came so early, because Indy was so cautious kicking the rest of the way. Would two long returns that weren't touchdowns have been better?)
Indy got the touchdown to Wayne, but blew the PAT, which could have easily been a bigger deal late. So the Bears still caught a break. Then former C.U. ward power forward Alex Brown broke into Indy's backfield and forced a fumble that led to Muhsin Muhammed's touchdown and a 14-6 lead. Who knew that was the beginning of the end?
(Not me. But it's funny to look back on my notes from the game. The Bears got first-and-goal after Thomas Jones' 52-yard run. They called two runs, gained nothing, and then had to pass, scoring on that throw to Muhammed. I noted at the time that it wasn't much for play-calling. Little did I know what a sign it was of overly-conservative things to come.)
4. Thomas Jones played like Michael Pittman of the Buccaneers did four years ago. Both were busts for the Arizona Cardinals, but both played huge in the Super Bowl. Jones only had fifteen carries, though, which explains how the Colts held him to 112 yards.
5. Rex Grossman was as advertised. (I was wrong; everyone else was right.) I had a good debate with my brother about which of his fourth-quarter interceptions was worse. I favored the first one's unbelievable hangtime towards the sideline, but you can't take anything away from his second pick, a hot-air balloon deep down the middle into double coverage.
6. Quick stop for the ads (watch them online if you don't follow me). First, that Grand Theft Auto/Coca-Cola commercial was tremendous, if only because it reminded me of my old roommate Sam, who once played GTA on my PlayStation and asked how to pick up all the litter strewn on the streets. The second was the Sales Genie ad, which might have been the greatest commercial of all-time. I would hate to meet anyone who was actually impressed by it. Oh, and that GM ad about the yellow assembly-line machine that loses its job and throws itself off a bridge-that was freakin' disturbing.
7. Do I have to mention Peyton Manning? Yes? Then he shouldn't have been MVP-I thought both running backs made more big plays in the second half. I'm not at all surprised he got the MVP with a Colts victory. Of course, who really cares who got that award-either way, he finally got his ring.
8. Adam Vinatieri did miss and even worse, it came after an icing timeout. I hate those-they never work-but they'll obviously be all the rage again next year. Like the bad-snap PAT, though, it didn't end up mattering.
9. Oh, yeah-in the first quarter, Nantz pointed out that on one play, Bears defenders Danieal and Ricky Manning were in the game, and it must have reminded Peyton of playing with Eli and Cooper growing up. Um, I can think of a big reason why it wouldn't have, but more to the point, this is emblematic of one of the reasons I hate Manning. I am so sick of being force-fed him, especially anecdotes about his family. Here's an example-I'm a much bigger fan of Brett Favre or Tom Brady and honestly, I couldn't tell you if either one even has a brother. I'm definitely not going to get teary-eyed remembering Peyton's childhood while I'm watching the Super Bowl, you know?
The craziest part is that Cooper, before an injury ended his playing days, was a wide receiver. His brothers are two of the slowest players in the whole league! I don't get it.
10. For me, one of the weird things about watching a Colts game is seeing offensive coordinator Tom Moore. Okay, Peyton Manning handles a lot of the play-calling and all that. But the Colts have been, over the last several years, an incredibly productive offensive team.
Bear with me for a sec. When Shaq and Kobe were on the same team, you'd hear the announcers drone on about the Lakers even during a Bucks-Clippers game. When the Rams ruled the NFL world, you'd hear about them every time, say, a Dolphins receiver ran for several yards after a catch (as though advancing the football was a revolutionary concept). Now when analysts and experts talk about football, you always hear about Peyton Manning. "He's obviously the top quarterback in the league," they'll say-even though he's not.
My point is, the Colts don't suffer for attention. But you almost never hear about Tom Moore as one of the league's best coaches, even though he's putting up a heck of a track record. Why is that? I guess it's just because he's old, and I suppose I don't really care if he gets more pub-but it's just kind of weird. Usually people on winning teams get too much attention, not too little.
11. Again, I don't like the Colts, but they did win. I've got to say, though, that this Super Bowl reminded me a lot of last year's. For what it's worth, I don't think the Steelers and Colts rank very high among other champions, including recent teams like the Patriots or even the Rams and Ravens.
Comments
I had the same thought about Hester's return - he pretty much took himself out of the game by breaking a big play early. In the long run, he would have helped his team more by having a number of longer returns - say out to the Bears' 40 - and then breaking one for a touchdown in the 3rd or 4th quarter. That said, though, the returner should never be a team's most productive offensive weapon in a Super Bowl . . .
Urlacher was a huge disappointment, and I don't see how that guy is numbered among the league's elite linebackers.
i liked a few of the commercials, the "slapping faces is the new bumping fists" was pretty amusing.