Now that we've established what they said, we can look at the game from our perspective. Since everyone who has ever written about sports is focused in on Manning and Grossman this weekend, we here at Veritas Lux Mea chose to focus on the two things we know best: the battle in the trenches and defense.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not expert on football. However, I did play the line for 7 years through school and was even lucky enough to play for a State Championship team, so I know what's it like to dig in and battle for a couple of inches every Sunday in the pursuit of sports glory.
As I highlighted in the previous post, the battle in the trenches is going to be huge for this game for a number of reasons.
First and foremost, Chicago's offensive is predicated on a solid running game.
Chicago's offensive lives and dies from the running game, much how Indianapolis uses the passing game. If the Bears are unable to get the running game going it will force Grossman to put the ball in the air, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on which Rex Grossman comes to play. To me, you have to look at the Bears offensive similar to how you looked at the Pittsburgh Steelers offense last year. The Steelers were more successful when they were able to run the ball and keep Ben Roethlisberger from having to throw all over the place; not that he and Grossman aren't good quarterbacks, but they are more effective as play-action quarterbacks who play off a solid run support scheme.
In order for Chicago to establish the run, their front five will have to be dominant.
Tate, Brown, Kreutz, Garza, and Miller will all need to play physical, tough-nosed football to wear down the speedy defensive front of Indianapolis. Colts defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis are small, but fast, and will try to win the corner against the bigger Chicago tackles. It will be up to Tate and Miller to not give up the corner and allow a blindsided sack on Grossman, which could easily turn into a fumble/score with their speed.
Luckily for Chicago, Indianapolis' interior defensive line has not played strong as of late. I think Garza, Kreutz, and Brown could be very dominant inside should they be able to handle Anthony McFarland and Raheem Brock. Rob Morris is the Colts only real run stuffer inside and should be matched up against a pulling guard or Kreutz on the run blocking for most of the day.
On the other side of the ball, the matchup between Chicago's defensive line and Indianapolis' great offensive line will be one for the ages, surely a Madden Classic.
The Chicago Bears may have the most feared triplet of defensive ends in the game with
Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown, and Mark Anderson. Anderson comes in as relief, and has already totaled 12 sacks in limited play this season. How the Colts' tackles Tarik Glenn and Ryan Diem handle their pressure will be critical to Indy's passing game. I think the battle between Glenn and Alex Brown will go in favor of Glenn, who is big and nimble enough to handle the power of Brown and the speed of Anderson. But look for Ogunleye to exploit Diem on the otherside, as Diem has had a hard time with the pass protection this season. If they are able to fluster Manning or push him out of the pocket, that will open up things for the Bears outstanding linebacking corps to clean up and put additional pressure.
The Colts have allowed just three sacks in their past five games, so it will be intriguing to see how Manning handles the added pressure from Ron Rivera's defense up front. Tank Johnson and Ian Scott will have their hands full inside, but should be able to keep Addai to a sweep-pitch game, forcing him to run outside the tackles.
You won't find a better position on the field today outside of the center position. Indianapolis' Jeff Saturday and Chicago's Olin Kreutz, both Pro Bowl selections, will anchor the front five for their respective teams. One important responsibility of the center is usually blocking the middle lineback on running plays, so watch for a great matchup between Urlacher and Saturday in the middle. It's for that reason that I think Brian Urlacher won't have a stellar game, but will likely be outshined by fellow linebacker Lance Briggs, who should give Addai fits.
The Indianapolis Star notes that "Since 1990 and excluding three Super Bowls where both teams had a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense, eight title games featured matchups between a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense. The team with the top-10 defense is 7-1. One caveat: Four of the seven also had a top-10 offense."
Pittsburgh. New England. New England. Tampa Bay. New England. Baltimore. The last six teams to win the Super Bowl. All had great defenses. So will the Bears become the seventh addition to that list and help carry on the recent tradition that "Defense Wins Championships?" Or will the Indianapolis Colts reignite the run of great offenses like San Francisco and Dallas of the past?
Veritas Lux Mea Super Bowl Pick
Chicago Bears, 31 - Indianapolis Colts - 27.
Chicago Bears, 31 - Indianapolis Colts - 27.
The Bears defense shines in the trenches and their pressure throws a wrench in Indianapolis' high-flying offensive arsenal. Manning throws for three touchdowns and two interceptions, while the young Rex Grossman plays a solid game with no interceptions to lead the Bears to victory. The Bears run all over Indianapolis on the ground, and Robbie Gould puts them ahead for good.
Devin Hester returns a kickoff for a touchdown to become the Super Bowl MVP.