Sunday, February 04, 2007
Is No One Picking The Bears? No One?
Note that I'm writing this on super Bowl Sunday, hours before the game is to take place. I don't know the outcome yet, obviously, but I find myself a bit flummoxed by all of the analysts out there in the world.
I am routing for the Colts. I like Manning and Dungy and Harrison and I like the way they play the game and I think I mentioned all this in a previous post. That being said, I really think the Bears are going to win. The Bears have a very good defense and that fact inconjunction with Manning's less than stellar performance thus far in the playoffs, including 2 TD passes to go along with 6 interceptions, says to me that the Bears are capable of shutting down the Indy offense. On top of that the Bears offense, while not spectacular by any stretch, seems to match up well against the Indy defense. The Bears are going to look to run the ball all day and just let Rex Grossman manage the game and perhaps make one or two plays through the course of the game.
If these particular matchups that I just mentioned go in the Bears favor, then there is no way they won't win. That's not to say that the Bears are definitely going to win, or that the Colts aren't capable of putting up a lot of points and playing very good defense, as they have in all 3 of their playoff games so far, but I think the Bears should be favored.
I have not seen one analyst who has picked the Bears. Not a single one with the exception of Mike Ditka, who is clearly biased in choosing them. I can see why an analyst would choose the Colts to win given the fact that they seem to playing good defense and if everyone plays at their best the Indy offense is really unstoppable. At the same time, however, I would expect that just as many people would choose the Bears for the reasons I mentioned earlier. The Bears were the number 1 seed from the start of the season. The Bears defense has had one of the best years of all time. Their running game is solid, and they have a real deep threat with Bernard Berrian. The only reason, it seems, that analysts are not picking the Bears is because of Rex Grossman.
Grossman is definitely inconsistent, and is hardly up to the caliber of Peyton Manning, but he is not incapable of having a good game. For all of the bad games he had this year, 6 by all accounts of the worst games ever by a starting QB, he had 10 very good games with a very high passer rating. He's not incapable, he just makes really bad decisions from time to time. Assuming he does not do that (and perhaps that's a ppor assumption) the Bears have what it takes to win on offense, defense, and special teams.
My point is this; I think the Bears are going to win, even though I'm routing for the Colts. I don't see how not even one analyst is picking the Bears as I would expect it to be about a 50/50 proposition. I wrote this before the game intentionally just so my opinion would be out there no matter what happens.
I am routing for the Colts. I like Manning and Dungy and Harrison and I like the way they play the game and I think I mentioned all this in a previous post. That being said, I really think the Bears are going to win. The Bears have a very good defense and that fact inconjunction with Manning's less than stellar performance thus far in the playoffs, including 2 TD passes to go along with 6 interceptions, says to me that the Bears are capable of shutting down the Indy offense. On top of that the Bears offense, while not spectacular by any stretch, seems to match up well against the Indy defense. The Bears are going to look to run the ball all day and just let Rex Grossman manage the game and perhaps make one or two plays through the course of the game.
If these particular matchups that I just mentioned go in the Bears favor, then there is no way they won't win. That's not to say that the Bears are definitely going to win, or that the Colts aren't capable of putting up a lot of points and playing very good defense, as they have in all 3 of their playoff games so far, but I think the Bears should be favored.
I have not seen one analyst who has picked the Bears. Not a single one with the exception of Mike Ditka, who is clearly biased in choosing them. I can see why an analyst would choose the Colts to win given the fact that they seem to playing good defense and if everyone plays at their best the Indy offense is really unstoppable. At the same time, however, I would expect that just as many people would choose the Bears for the reasons I mentioned earlier. The Bears were the number 1 seed from the start of the season. The Bears defense has had one of the best years of all time. Their running game is solid, and they have a real deep threat with Bernard Berrian. The only reason, it seems, that analysts are not picking the Bears is because of Rex Grossman.
Grossman is definitely inconsistent, and is hardly up to the caliber of Peyton Manning, but he is not incapable of having a good game. For all of the bad games he had this year, 6 by all accounts of the worst games ever by a starting QB, he had 10 very good games with a very high passer rating. He's not incapable, he just makes really bad decisions from time to time. Assuming he does not do that (and perhaps that's a ppor assumption) the Bears have what it takes to win on offense, defense, and special teams.
My point is this; I think the Bears are going to win, even though I'm routing for the Colts. I don't see how not even one analyst is picking the Bears as I would expect it to be about a 50/50 proposition. I wrote this before the game intentionally just so my opinion would be out there no matter what happens.
# posted by ChuckJerry : 2/04/2007 09:56:00 AM
