Ditka.
Oops, let's try that again.
Lovie.
Well, that certainly doesn't have the same ring to it. But even though the 2006 Chicago Bears can in no way be confused with the 1985 Monsters of the Midway, it will be the Bears, not the heavily-favored Indianapolis Colts, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday evening in Miami, joining their Super Bowl-Shuffling brethren as the only Chicago teams to ever claim the NFL championship.
It will come as a shock to many that the reason the Bears will win Super Bowl XLI starts with their offense. While the Colts sported one of the worst run defenses in league history in the regular season, many believe that has changed this postseason.
It hasn't.
What happened is that Indianapolis ran into one incompetent team in the Kansas City Chiefs, and two teams that were never going to have much success on the ground in the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. The Chiefs' Larry Johnson, who averaged 28.6 touches per game in the regular season, ran only 13 times while catching five passes against the Colts. It wasn't the Colts' run defense that stopped Johnson. It was Herman Edwards' game planning. In the cases of the Ravens and the Patriots, Jamal Lewis, who averaged only 3.6 yards per carry in the regular season, was simply not going to cut it in the postseason, and neither was the Patriots' two-headed attack of Laurence Maroney and Corey Dillon.
For the first time in the postseason, the Bears, assuming they don't make the same mistake as the Chiefs, pose a legitimate ground-threat to Indy. Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson have combined for 294 yards rushing in two postseason games, and the Colts' porous run defense will not be the ones to stop them.
And believe it or not, there is also hope for Chicago signal-caller Rex Grossman. Not only has Grossman been serviceable for the Bears thus far this postseason, Sunday night will also mark his first NFL start in Florida, the state where he enjoyed great success as the Gators' signal-caller. In Gainsville, Grossman threw 77 touchdowns in three years as the starter and was named the AP's National Player of the Year in 2001. Could Rex recapture some of that Gator Magic on Sunday? Is this a bit of a stretch? Only time will tell.
The Bears' final offensive weapon is one that, if they choose to use it, will create a Super Bowl memory nobody will forget. That's right.
Brian Urlacher. On offense.
Urlacher, who played safety and wide receiver in college at New Mexico, has been rumored to want to take some snaps on offense, but the Bears have always feared the injury risk. Now, in the Super Bowl, with everything on the line, why not line Urlacher up at tight end and give him a chance to truck stick the fragile Bob Sanders? It would be well worth the price of admission.
Of course, while he is an offensive pipe dream, Urlacher is an absolute sure thing on defense. Urlacher is one of the best linebackers in the NFL in pass coverage, and he will be sure to give Colts tight end Dallas Clark more trouble than the Patriots did two weeks ago. Urlacher and fellow linebackers Lance Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer are more the run-stop, coverage type of linebackers, leaving the pass rush to the Bears' front four.
Ends Mark Anderson, Alex Brown, and Adewale Ogunleye combined for 25.5 sacks in the regular season, and although tackle Tommie Harris has been out with injury, Tank Johnson has held things together in the middle of the line for Chicago. Expect the Bears to get just enough bad throws out of Peyton Manning to give their secondary a chance to make a big play. Corners Ricky Manning Jr., Charles Tillman, and Nathan Vasher combined for 13 picks in 2006, and just one on Sunday could do wonders for the Bears.
Speaking of big plays, the last, but certainly not least, reason the Bears will win this weekend is rookie return man Devin Hester, who ran three punts, two kickoffs, and one missed field goal back for touchdowns this season. The Colts special teams appeared susceptible to the big play against the Patriots, and Hester will be their biggest challenge yet.
The one thing Indianapolis cannot afford to do is give up points to the Bears' defense and special teams. If the Colts do, expect to get a heavy dose of Jones and Benson as the Bears protect a lead and keep the ball out of Peyton Manning's hands as much as possible.
And if all else fails, don't be surprised if Tank Johnson does something crazy.
