Indianapolis Rains Supreme
Manning earns MVP honors as Colts roll over Bears 29-17
By Nick Dimichino
Congratulations to Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, and the rest of the Indianapolis Colts on a great season topped off by a win in Super Bowl XLI. With the win, Dungy becomes the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl. He is well-deserved of the championship and his recognition as one of the game’s greats. A player himself, Dungy attended The University of Minnesota and played as a quarterback on the Golden Gophers football team in the 70s. He entered the NFL as a free-agent and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers where he helped win Super Bowl XIII. Dungy retired some years later and after working as the defensive backs coach at Minnesota, Dungy took an assistant coaching job with the Steelers. He worked under his former coach, Chuck Knoll, and stayed with the Steelers from 1981-1989. He was the youngest assistant coach in the league, and his future looked bright. Dungy then went on to a head coaching job in Tampa Bay, taking a historically horrible Buccaneers team to the playoffs several times. Dungy then moved on to become the head coach of the Colts in 2002, the same year that Jon Gruden came in and won a Super Bowl with his Bucs down in Tampa. Dungy would get his shot though, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLI.
The score did not justify the game for the Indianapolis Colts. It began with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by guess who, Devin Hester. On the ensuing drive for the Colts, Manning failed to hit an open Marvin Harrison and the Bears’ safety Chris Harris was there for the interception. It was looking as bleak as the night was for Manning’s Colts. But the defense responded. Led by their front 7, Indy’s usual Swiss cheese-like run defense proved strong as Stonewall Jackson as they held Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson in check. After a 52-yard trot from Jones, the Colts defense held him to only 60 yards the rest of the contest. If the MVP award could be given to a defense, I believe Indy’s was worthy. The Colts out gained the Chicago Bears by nearly double, but did not put the icing on this cake until 3:16 into the 4th quarter when Kelvin Hayden returned Rex Grossman’s pass 56 yards for a touchdown. The Bears fans that made the trip then seemed eager to get out of the rain as they started filing out of Dolphin Stadium soon after. The Colts D completed the effort by holding Rex Grossman to 165 yards, not completing a pass over 15 yards. The secondary was on Grossman all day, picking him off twice, all while swallowing up 3 fumbles. I guess the Bears are who we thought they were.
There were a total of 6 fumbles and 3 interceptions in this one, not allowing either team to fully get into any type of offensive rhythm. The weather was a factor as the rain came down steadily for 4 quarters, not even stopping for Prince, or “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince”, or that symbol, or whatever the hell else he wants to be known as these days. I’m sure his hair would have looked phenomenal had it not been for the black handkerchief he wore so the rain didn’t mess up his perm. Couple that with horrible attire and a mélange of horrible remakes and you have another god-awful Super Bowl Halftime show.
But now let’s turn our attention to the man that finally got the monkey off his back: Peyton Manning. Manning was not spectacular in any aspect of the word, but they won. He did not need to throw 4 touchdown passes to do it either. It seemed as if his most effective move was turning around and handing the ball off to one of his two stellar backs. Manning made the throws when he needed to, hitting a wide open Reggie Wayne for an early touchdown, and finishing the day 25/38 for 247 yards. The Super Bowl MVP could have gone one of three ways (Manning, Rhodes, Addai), but Peyton Manning walked away with the honor. Rhodes had a spectacular day, netting 113 yards on 21 carries. He broke off a 36-yard run in the 3rd quarter, flashing greatness as he picked apart the Bears defense. Rookie Joseph Addai also had a big day with most of his yards coming through the air, catching 10 passes for 66 yards. Fighting back his smile, Manning received the trophy and the MVP honor on stage with Tony Dungy. The Vince Lombardi trophy was presented to them by the all-time winningest coach in NFL history, Don Shula. Peyton joins guys named Starr, Namath, Bradshaw, Young and Elway as the MVPs of Super Bowls played in Miami. Perhaps Peyton Manning’s season will give further false hope to the fans in New York expecting similar success from their beloved Eli.