Manning MVP But Ground Game Carries Colts to Championship

Super Bowl XLI will be remembered for Peyton Manning winning his first championship and Tony Dungy becoming the first African-American coach to hold the Lombardi trophy. Neither of that would have been possible without the superlative efforts of running backs Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. While not as highly touted a duo as their Bears' counter-parts, Addai and Rhodes carved up the Chicago defense for nearly 200 rushing yards. Both contributed in a variety of ways with Rhodes contributing over 100 yards on the ground and Addai setting a Super Bowl record with 10 catches out of the backfield. Either would have been strong candidates for MVP, but it's hard to knock the voters for selecting Manning. After an early interception, Manning rebounded to go 25 of 38 for 247 yards with a touchdown and that lone pick. As long as he didn't hurt their chances to win, it was pretty obvious that number 18 would walk away with the top individual honor.

It's hard to wrap-up the Super Bowl with any thoughts that haven't been played over and over on ESPN, but a few things really stood out in this game. First, it's unbelieveable how long the Bears stayed in this game. Despite moving with relative ease down the field, the Colts did not score with the same efficiency they're accustomed to. Sure, some credit belongs to the Bears, but it seemed Tony Dungy didn't want to embarass his friend. Even clinging to only a 5 point lead early in to the fourth quarter, the Colts played closer to the vest than I've ever seen from them. They're usually full throttle for 60 minutes and would let Peyton fling it with multiple touchdown leads. I'm sure the conditions factored in, but Dungy's decision not to kick a field goal late raises suspicion.

The Tampa 2 defense that the Bears often run allows for underneath stuff that Manning and Addai took advantage of. It's typically provides a bend, but don't break defense which it did for most of the night. However, the coverage breakdown that lead to Reggie Wayne's early touchdown proved the Colts should have taken more shots. Chicago safeties Chris Harris and Danieal Manning, although good players, will get caught out of position. Even through the rain and the effective running tandem made it smart to keep it on the ground, it seemed the Colts never really stepped on the gas pedal. Maybe they never intended to, but this was certainly not a typical Indy win. That being said, since they didn't do it in their traditional ways, maybe this victory is even more impressive. They came in and roughed up a more physical team. Even though the Bears raced out to the lead, the Colts were the more dominant team throughout.

Finally, the Chicago Bears must be concerned with Rex Grossman's psyche after his fourth quarter collapse. Unfortunately for Rex, most people won't remember that he started off the game relatively effective. He didn't take unnecessary risks and even made a terrific throw on his touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad. As the game progressed, Grossman started falling down a slippery slope. His footwork fell apart, leading to a pair of Colts sacks, and he got sloppy with the football under center. The two fourth quarter interceptions were poorly thrown balls, although the second seemed to be a result of a wet football. Bears managment has to determine whether he's their franchise quarterback or whether it's a need they might address in the draft. In fairness, this was his first full season as a starter and he guided this team to the ultimate game. He's a former first round pick and has the support of Lovie Smith. It doesn't seem that one quarter of poor play in the Super Bowl will weigh that heavily on the minds of Bears executives, but it's something to pay attention to in the offseason.