Bears' march to Super Bowl XLI
Ira Miller, the longtime football writer for the San Francisco Chronicle who works for The Sports Xchange, was assigned by the Pro Football Writers of America as the pool reporter for the Bears. Miller watched a one-hour workout in shells that included the return of wide receiver Mark Bradley (above), who had been sidelined since the divisional round meeting vs. Seattle with a sprained right ankle.
''He looked good,'' coach Lovie Smith told Miller. ''He should be fine and ready to play. Both ankles looked the same to me.''
As speculated in Monday's Sun-Times, the Bears had a play clock on the field to help the defense prepare for the pace of the Indianapolis offense and the pre-snap routine of Peyton Manning. The DallasCowboys used the same technique during the season in preparation for their meeting with the Colts and wound up handing Indianapolis its first loss.
''Only one team, the Colts, can run it like that,'' said Smith, addressing the pace of the Colts' offense. ''Especially with what Manning does, but we want to get as close to it as possible.''
Brad Biggs