As most of you football folks know, the Colts have won the SuperBowl XLI, beating the Bears, 29 - 17, in Miami.
Here in good ol Malaysia, the game was shown live on satellite television, on ESPN. Thank God, for ESPN :-).. I have missed a few past Super Bowls, but I didn't want to miss this one. However, I did not catch the live telecast, as it was a normal workday ( Monday morning ). I did follow the game through the Net using Yahoo Sports live boxscore of the game. And I did catch the repeat of the game later on early Tuesday morning ( 2.30 - 5.30 Malaysian time ). It was kinda maddening following it on the Net ;-) but, as a football fan, you can follow how the game goes ... but it does not beat watching it the actual game on TV ;-)
A little confession, I was rooting for the Colts, as I knew that it would be a historic event if Tony Dungy n Peyton Manning get their Super Bowl win. Dungy, as the first African-American coach to win it, and Manning, to establish himself as HOF QB ( not that he needs any more validation :-) )
Pre-game
There were several angles before the game started. Among them,
1. The Bears D vs Colts Offence ... Colts Offense rocks !
2. The African American coaching firsts ... Dungy is the first !
3. Peyton vs Rex ... Peyton's and he got the game MVP ;-)
Highlighted in red, is the result :D ...
Game time comments ( following the online boxscore )
1. The early TD by Devin Hester ...dang ! the kid did it again ;-)
2. The stats between QBs .. I noticed that Peyton's numbers were not great, but he was spreading it all over the field .. not necessarily Reggie Wayne n Marvin Harrison ... I guessed that he was passing it here and there .. short to mid passes ..not many long ones ...
3. The Colts RB were doing great damage to the Bears D ... and I wondered what was going on with Bears running game .. ( turns out Cedric Benson was out early .. a loss to them and messed up their game plan )
4. Colts O was methodical in dissecting the Bears D
Game time comments ( watching the game on TV )
1. Devin Hester's return was electric !!
2. Peyton was doing a better job than Rex Grossman in managing the game. It was obvious that Manning was figuring out the Bears D in the first quarter, and finishing it up on the next three. Rex ? I think the coaches were telling him to just do it ... but gotta give him props for the TD pass, that was tight.
3. Dominic Rhodes n Joseph Addai were the twin punchers ... Rhodes was straight up, Addai was the slasher .. and they combined to soften up the Bears D .. Thomas Jones was contained by the Colts D as he was a slasher ... the Bears missed Benson ...
Here in good ol Malaysia, the game was shown live on satellite television, on ESPN. Thank God, for ESPN :-).. I have missed a few past Super Bowls, but I didn't want to miss this one. However, I did not catch the live telecast, as it was a normal workday ( Monday morning ). I did follow the game through the Net using Yahoo Sports live boxscore of the game. And I did catch the repeat of the game later on early Tuesday morning ( 2.30 - 5.30 Malaysian time ). It was kinda maddening following it on the Net ;-) but, as a football fan, you can follow how the game goes ... but it does not beat watching it the actual game on TV ;-)
A little confession, I was rooting for the Colts, as I knew that it would be a historic event if Tony Dungy n Peyton Manning get their Super Bowl win. Dungy, as the first African-American coach to win it, and Manning, to establish himself as HOF QB ( not that he needs any more validation :-) )
Pre-game
There were several angles before the game started. Among them,
1. The Bears D vs Colts Offence ... Colts Offense rocks !
2. The African American coaching firsts ... Dungy is the first !
3. Peyton vs Rex ... Peyton's and he got the game MVP ;-)
Highlighted in red, is the result :D ...
Game time comments ( following the online boxscore )
1. The early TD by Devin Hester ...dang ! the kid did it again ;-)
2. The stats between QBs .. I noticed that Peyton's numbers were not great, but he was spreading it all over the field .. not necessarily Reggie Wayne n Marvin Harrison ... I guessed that he was passing it here and there .. short to mid passes ..not many long ones ...
3. The Colts RB were doing great damage to the Bears D ... and I wondered what was going on with Bears running game .. ( turns out Cedric Benson was out early .. a loss to them and messed up their game plan )
4. Colts O was methodical in dissecting the Bears D
Game time comments ( watching the game on TV )
1. Devin Hester's return was electric !!
2. Peyton was doing a better job than Rex Grossman in managing the game. It was obvious that Manning was figuring out the Bears D in the first quarter, and finishing it up on the next three. Rex ? I think the coaches were telling him to just do it ... but gotta give him props for the TD pass, that was tight.
3. Dominic Rhodes n Joseph Addai were the twin punchers ... Rhodes was straight up, Addai was the slasher .. and they combined to soften up the Bears D .. Thomas Jones was contained by the Colts D as he was a slasher ... the Bears missed Benson ...
Post game comments
In the end, it was a good game to watch. The weather conditions didn't make it an ideal game though .. a few fumbles and slip-ups. As a fan, I appreciate seeing how the Colts worked their way against the Bears, methodically dismantling them bit by bit.
Things Colts did right
- recognizing the Bears D were doing Cover 2, Peyton went went dinking n dunking
- used Rhodes n Addai wisely, in wearing down the D
- didn't go into panic mode at 6 - 14 down
Things Bear didn't do right
- trust Rex : With Benson down, my suggestion was they should have used Jones and mixed short passes to build up Rex as the game goes on. Rex strikes me as a streaky QB.
- The Bears D said they didn't tackle well. True and their Cover 2 wasn't their basic D. They should have played their man to man and let the Colts figure that out. I bet they had too much respect for Manning, and didn't want to give up big plays.
It was a historic game as Dungy became the first African American headcoach to win a Super Bowl. This guy is pretty classy, ever since I followed the game. He is seen to be a calm and collected coach, who doesn't rave and rant, a trait few other coaches have. To coach Lovie Smith, you will be back here again, I have a feeling that you would be as successful as coach Dungy.
As for Peyton, it was a great win and it took off a monkey from his back, on how he couldn't perform on the big stage. And, finally he has beaten The Gators :-), if you know what I mean ....
Till next Super Bowl then !
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