Super Bowl XLI Preview

Super Bowl XLI will have a fresh look with two teams that haven't seen the NFL's title game in a long time. The Bears are back in the Super Bowl for first time since winning Super Bowl XX in January of 1986, while the Colts will make a Super Bowl appearance for the first time since the franchise, then located in Baltimore, beat Dallas in Super Bowl V. Both teams started the 2006 season fast with the Bears winning their first seven games on their way to the NFC North title and the Indianapolis Colts starting 9-0 on their way to the AFC South crown. The game will feature strength against strength with the Colts offense, ranked third in the regular season, going against a Bears defense that finished the season ranked fifth overall. Both teams have plenty of talent, with Chicago sending eight players to the Pro Bowl, six from the defense or special teams, and the Colts boasting five Pro Bowl players, all from the offense. Bears coach Lovie Smith and Colts coach Tony Dungy are close friends, dating back to Smith's time working on Dungy's staff with the Tampa Bay Bucs, and the two are the first African-American head coaches to reach the Super Bowl.

Colts' game plan: The second half of last night's AFC Championship was, I believe, the defining moment of Peyton Manning's NFL career. But defining moments are only part of a larger body of work, and Manning's best plan is simply to do what he's been doing all season, when he's been the best player in the league. Manning takes advantage of weaknesses in opposing secondaries, and in the Super Bowl that will mean going after cornerback Charles Tillman. Also look for Dominic Rhodes to have a big game: Since losing defensive tackle Tommie Harris to a hamstring injury, the Bears have struggled against runs up the middle. The Colts' secondary must be ready for the speedy receiver Bernard Berrian, who accounted for more than half of the Bears' passing yards yesterday.

Bears' game plan: Rex Grossman has to take advantage when the Colts stack the line to stop the run. He was terrible against the Saints until the Saints sold out completely against the run, and then he took advantage, completing his last six passes. The Colts need more of that, and they also need more of the excellent blocking they got from center Olin Kreutz and tight end Desmond Clark. It was Kreutz and Clark who paved the way for Thomas Jones' big day against the Saints. On defense the Chicago Bears, Brian Urlacher needs to come up big against Joseph Addai. The Saints' most effective plays Sunday were passes to Reggie Bush, and if Manning can find Addai on similar passes, the Bears will be in trouble. Covering Addai out of the backfield will fall mainly to Urlacher.

Prediction: NFL FanHouse picked both the Bears and the Colts to win Sunday's conference championship games. That means this prediction is probably wrong, but Manning looks like the one quarterback who can find the holes in the Bears' D: Colts 27, Bears 23