11 reasons why Colts will get double-digit 'W'
After tuning in on Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith breaking with tradition and posing together with the Lombardi Trophy on Friday morning, I'm finished with this animosity-free, distraction-free Super Bowl buildup and ready for some action.
And not the kind of action they're seeing on South Beach, either.
Here then, friends, are XLI reasons Why The Colts Will Win Today:
What? XLI reasons? Save it for the book. We've got to stick the ads in somewhere.
OK, XI reasons:
I -- Peyton Manning vs. Rex Grossman.
Good kid, Grossman, even rates the Hoosier hometown criticism discount. But Peyton and Rex? C'mon. As soon as Manning gets over the early nerves -- and, yeah, they'll be there -- he's going to carve up that familiar-looking Bears defense. Grossman will try to throw deep early, and he might even have a bit of success early, but it's hard to imagine Good Rex won't turn into Bad Rex once the pass rush starts coming.
II -- This isn't 1985 anymore, no matter how badly the Chicago papers want to resurrect Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton and Mongo McMichael. The Bears' defense hasn't been close to the same since it lost Mike Brown in October and, more recently, Tommie Harris in December. (Which explains why wrong-headed scofflaw Tank Johnson is getting another last chance.)
III -- The AFC has won seven of the last nine Super Bowls and went 40-24 against the NFC this season. Even more, the Colts won six games this season against teams that finished with a winning record and got two more victories against teams that finished .500. The Bears won three against winning teams and two more against .500 teams St. Louis and Green Bay.
Enough facts?
Yes. Enough.
IV -- The Colts will have more than enough success running the football. People have overlooked the fact that Indy has run the ball better than anybody else this postseason.
V -- Oh, and here's why the Colts will have so much success with the run. The Bears will play a lot of nickel defense, putting Ricky Manning Jr. on Dallas Clark. That means one fewer big body stopping the run.
VI -- Devin Hester will not beat the Colts because the Colts won't give him that chance. Hey, boys, we don't need any heroes, OK? Kick it to Kissimmee, if necessary.
VII -- Dwight Freeney will have a big day against Bears left tackle Fred Miller. He has been a beast all postseason; he will continue the rampage.
VIII -- The Colts already have beaten their toughest competition, specifically New England.
IX -- The Colts are going to get one of those where-did-he-come-from performances by someone like Terrence Wilkins, who has spent the week hearing about Hester.
X -- The Bears will have some success on the ground -- Thomas Jones is the kind of cutback runner who gives the Colts' pursuit-crazy defenders trouble -- but they won't be dominant enough to keep the Indy offense off the field.
XI -- The Bears need turnovers to beat the Colts. And the Colts aren't going to turn it over more than once. Manning has gotten his interceptions out of the way.
Here's my bottom line: It's time. It's time for the Colts, whose dream has been deferred so many times before, to finish the job they started in 1998. They have been through way too much, too many trials and tribulations, both on and off the field, to let this magical opportunity slip through their fingers.
''You feel a small window of opportunity,'' Manning said the other day. ''While we're here, we sure want to go ahead and win it.''
No worries.
They will.
By double digits, in fact. Bob Kravitz is a columnist for the Indianapolis Star.