Superbowl XLI

Peyton Manning finally got the gigantic ape off his back when he led the Indianapolis Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in Superbowl XLI. He will no longer be remembered as the best QB never to have won the big game. And he was named the game's MVP to boot.

But the honour should have gone to someone else.

For sure, Manning's numbers were solid (25 of 38, 247 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT), but he couldn't get his two star receivers (Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne) into the game, who had only eight catches among them. The honour should have gone to either of the running backs Joseph Addai (close to 150 yards in total offense and with a game-high 10 catches) or Dominic Rhodes (21 carries for 113 yards, 1 TD). With the Bears so worried about Manning's long passing game and sending the two safeties some 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, it was Addai who either rushed through the middle or sneaked out of the backfield to snatch passes to gain so many important yardage for the Colts. Although Addai didn't score in the game, while Rhodes scored once on the ground, Addai's catches out of the backfield were by far the most important contribution for the Colts.

The Bears' offensive struggle was all too predictable. Apart from Thomas Jones' 52-yard run, they didn't have much offense going. And the erratic Rex Grossman's sub-par performance was not a surprise to anyone.

Grossman has been a puzzling mystery for the Bears. When he is good, he can be really good. But when he is bad, he can be really bad. Unfortunately for the Bears, he has chosen to be bad in the game.

When Grossman lobbed a long pass against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game, wideout Bernard Berrian somehow managed to out-jump two colliding defenders and rolled into the endzone. It was a very good day for him as he finally led the Bears to their first Superbowl for over 20 years. But when he lobbed another one to Muhsin Muhammad in the fourth quarter of this game, it was more like a punt which was literally up for grabs for everyone on the field. Colt's cornerback Kelvin Hayden caught it, did an outstanding job staying inbounds and returned it for a touchdown to put the final points on the scoreboard. But somehow Grossman didn't learn his lesson, and would lob another punt deep into the Colts' backfield and it was Bob Sanders this time who picked him off. Two terrible mistakes, which once again show that Grossman still has ways to go to become an elite QB.

But some of the blame should also go to the Bears' offensive co-ordinator Ron Turner, for relying too much on Grossman's arm in an attempt to catch the Colts. Cedric Benson's injury did affect their rushing game plan, but with Thomas Jones running effectively, and Grossman being once again the erratic QB that they didn't want him to be, the Bears should have increase their run-to-pass ratio. As it turned out, the Bears had 29 passing plays, but only 19 rushing plays. An inexcusable decision indeed.