Too Much Love for Manning

After Super Sunday's 29-17 Colts victory, Peyton Manning got the proverbial monkey off his back and a questionable Super Bowl MVP award as well.

Except for the frequent, and well-deserved bashing of Rex Grossman, the media spent the entire season glorifying the defense of the Chicago Bears even after Tommie Harris' injury significantly diluted the team's run D. But after Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai rushed a total of 40 times for 190 yards (4.75 yds per carry), it turned out that, despite what Denny Green said, the Bears weren't really who everyone thought they were.

Regardless of that, at least one member of the Colts' backfield duo should have received MVP honors. Rhodes had 113 yards on the ground and a score, and Addai, in addition to his 77 rushing yards, set a Super Bowl record for RBs with 10 receptions for another 66 yards. Yes, Manning had a good game, but Rhodes and Addai converted several key 3rd and shorts and ran for clock-milking first downs when the Bears KNEW Indy would run.

I'm glad to see Peyton squash the biggest criticisms against him (though I'm sure more will appear until he's retired), but he shouldn't be given the award simply in an effort to avoid naming a backup running back MVP or having the award split. Is Cadillac somehow involved in this? Are they not willing to dish out a second Escalade? Considering GM's struggles, that's not too far fetched. Anyways . . . the Super Bowl MVP award should not be given to the franchise player as a tiebreaker between two other players. Peyton Manning is no exception. I mean, Kelvin Hayden put as many points on the board as Peyton did.

The Super Bowl Shuffle

Well, they're baaaaack. It's been 21 long years, but Sunday afternoon the Chicago Bears defeated the New Orleans Saints 39-14 to advance to the Super Bowl. Bears' quarterback Rex Grossman didn't have a great game by any stretch of the imagination. But he also did not commit a single turnover and was 6-for-6 passing down a crucial stretch of the game.

After all was said and done, Grossman's overall statistics...or lack thereof...didn't seem to bother any of the Bears' players, including star linebacker Brian Urlacher.

When we asked him to do it, he has. He's a winner. I don't know what his career record is, I don't care what his stats are, he's a winner.

But we can't ignore the AFC champion either, as much as I'd like to. Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts finally dethroned pretty boy Tom Brady and the Patriots. Their 18-point rally will go down as one of the best playoff feats ever and it's in large part to Manning and his poise in the pocket.

Now, even though this year's Super Bowl won't include the beloved Saints or Patriots, it will include two teams with incredibly athletic defenses, good running games and ...uh...strong-throwing quarterbacks? I guess there really aren't many similarities between the Bears and Colts at all other than the fact that they both live and die by their quarterbacks and defense.

It will be interesting to see how the two teams match up against each other though. Each team has all the momentum in the world coming into the game and each has an incredible fan base backing them, especially on this campus. I don't know who the winner will be two weeks from now in Miami, but I do know that this campus will be the place to be for the Super Bowl.

So I'll pose this question to all you Colts fans out there: do the Bears stand a chance against Peyton Manning? Or will they be doing a new version of the Super Bowl Shuffle two weeks from now?