want to preface this by pointing out that this pick is not being made to spite Peyton Manning. I take alot of pride in my Super Bowl handicapping record. I started with the Broncos/Packers SB, had the Broncos. Lost the Giants/Ravens side, pushed on the Rams/Titans side (damn you Mike Jones), lost the Steelers/Hawks side and total(thanks to the refs. I don't normally use the refs suck excuse often, but Stevie Wonder thought that SB was poorly reffed). So that puts me at a grand total of 5-2-1 on SB sides, and 3-1 on totals, which I didn't start playing in SB's until Tampa/Oakland and that adds up to 8-3-1 in the last 8 Super Bowls. I bet to make money, and if that means placing a wager on Manning and rooting for the Colts to win, I'll do that (did it twice this year, against Denver and Cincy). With that said and out of the way.

The Colts have played ONE good half of offense in the playoffs this year, and that was against a Pats team that had absolutely NOTHING left in the tank. The Pats D was lacking in depth and speed, and it showed in the second half of that Colts game. The Bears do not have that problem. They have depth, they don't need to blitz to get pressure on the qb, and Joe Addai and Dominic Rhodes are going to be fairly ineffective rushing the ball. The Colts obviously have the better QB and wideouts in this one, but they Benson and Jones are better RB's, the Clark matchup at TE is a wash, the kickers are a wash, the Bears have better LB's, a better secondary, a better D-line, and a better return man. The Colts haven't faced a two-pronged rushing attack as healthy and talented as this since they faced Jacksonville. That didn't turn out very well for them. The thing about this Bears defense is not that they are stifling, but they can cause a turnover at any time, and they have just as good a chance at scoring on defense as the Colts offense does of scoring on them. This matchup reminds me of the Giants/Ravens and Bucs/Raiders matchups, in terms of the Bears have the better defense and everyone is asking how in the world the Bears can stop the Colts? Belichick(in the first half) and Rob Ryan (Ravens Coordinator) gave everyone the blueprint to shutting down the Colts offense. The Pats in the first half stifled the Colts, and the Ravens really clamped down on them, holding them to five field goals and had numerous turnover opportunites that Ray Lewis inadvertently tipped away (twice). I think Grossman will be fine, and that the Bears ability to score on defense will make the difference in this one

Bears 38 Indy-23

Good luck, go Bears!

Good luck. I just hope the public keeps that line at 7. My bookie doesn't open until 10 this morning. :)

glad to see we're on the same page today
GL

My local uses lines from pinny as posted on yahoo and I'm down to bears + 6.5. That's what I get for dragging my feet.

like it
good luck