My dad is a football fan.  Doesn’t matter what level or who’s playing, he’ll take time out to watch.  He’s such a football fan, in fact, that he’s the only person I know who was sad to see the XFL go.

 

Dad has seen a lot in his life.  But I doubt even he expected to see two African-American coaches lead their teams to the Super Bowl in the same season.  To see one would’ve been cause for joy.  I haven’t talked to him since the Bears and Colts advanced, but I imagine that he’s never been more excited about a single football game in his life.

 

That’s the way it should be.  And I suspect that a lot of other African-Americans who grew up in an America where doors were closed and opportunities denied them feel the same, even if they know nothing about football.  Tony Dungy and his protégé, Lovie Smith, have blown open a door first cracked by the late Hall-of-Famer Fritz Pollard back in the 1920s and dusted off by Art Shell in the early 1990s.  Regardless of which one of them walks through the opening, Dungy and Smith are both heroes.  This first time will be particularly sweet, but it shouldn’t be the last time.  Only God knows for sure.

 

And now, with all that being said, here’s the lowdown on what we’re in for with Super Bowl XLI.

 

1.  Bears vs. Colts in history.  Digging through the 2006 NFL Record & Fact Book bore the type of fruit that football junkies crave—mainly, what does the overall series between the Bears and the Colts look like?

 

The first meeting between these two teams occurred in 1953, Baltimore ’s first year in the NFL.  The Colts swept the season series with a 13-9 win at Baltimore and a 16-14 win at Chicago .  The sweep accounted for two-thirds of Baltimore ’s wins, as the team finished 3-9 under Keith Molesworth, his only season with the team.  The Bears didn’t fare much better, going 3-8-1 in the legendary George Halas’s third stint as head coach.

 

The two teams played each other twice a year every year until 1966, then once a year between 1967 and 1970 due to an internal NFL realignment.  Super Bowl XLI will mark only the eighth meeting between these two teams since 1975, the first match-up since 2004, when the Colts beat the Bears 41-10 in Chicago , and the first postseason meeting in the series.   The Colts lead the all-time series 22-17.

 

2.  What the Bears have to do to win Super Bowl XLI.  The new Monsters of the Midway have had just enough offense during the course of the season to support their strong defense and special teams.  Indianapolis will be expecting Chicago to do what everyone else has tried to do in the postseason, which is to attempt to run the ball down their throats.  That means that Chicago , when it gets the ball, must use the passing game to set up the run.

 

Quarterback Rex Grossman has come under fire all season, but he keeps finding ways to answer his critics.  He didn’t make any big mistakes in their 39-14 thumping of the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game, which is a good sign.  But he’ll be facing a defense that thrives on speed.  That means he’ll need to look to second and third options to make plays.    

 

The Bears chewed up serious yardage on the ground against the Seahawks and Saints, gaining 120 and 196 yards respectively in their two playoff games.  They also had a +4 turnover differential, thanks largely to three fumbles they forced against New Orleans .  If they’re able to get some big gains through the air and force the Colts to cough up the football, they’ll find the holes in Indy’s run defense and play hard-nosed football better suited to windswept Soldier Field than sun-kissed Dolphin Stadium.  And a big kick return from rookie Devin Hester won’t hurt, either.

 

3.  What the Colts have to do to win Super Bowl XLI.  By beating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, the Colts managed to shed an entire zoo full of monkeys from their backs.  In the process, the celebrated Peyton Manning finally gets to showcase his skills on pro football’s biggest stage. 

 

Indianapolis needs its running back tandem of Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes to get hot early.  That will help keep the Bears’ swarming defense off Manning and give him time to make throws downfield.  Addai and Rhodes will also need to protect the football.  The Bears will take advantage if they put the ball on the ground.

 

Stopping the run wasn’t much of a problem for the Colts in their first three playoff games.  They allowed an average of just 51 rushing yards per game, effectively shutting down heavy hitters Larry Johnson, Jamal Lewis and Corey Dillon.  The Bears pack a nice one-two punch with Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson, so the potential is there for the lighter, speedier Colts to get worn down.  But Bob Sanders is the spark plug for the Indianapolis defense, and they go as he goes.

 

It’s unlikely that Chicago will get inspired by any taunting from the Colts.  All-world wide receiver Marvin Harrison is about as quiet as they come—he reminds me so much of another standout wide-out, the venerable Art Monk—but in recent years he’s shown some flashes of emotion on the field.  Harrison is a bit of an X-factor here.  We know how good he is, but this is his opportunity to exert his will against the Bears’ secondary and let some fire temper his grace.

 

4.  Will weather be a factor?  The St. Louis Rams were the first dome-field team to win a Super Bowl—Super Bowl XXXIV, specifically, which happened to be played in the Georgia Dome.  The Colts, who have played in a dome for well over twenty years themselves, have a bit of an advantage in this game.  They are accustomed to playing in the South Florida heat and humidity, having to face travel to Miami every season when they were in the AFC East.  And according to the early indications, Super Bowl Sunday promises to be rather warm.  Both The Weather Channel and AccuWeather are calling for high temperatures around 80 degrees and at least a 20-percent chance of rain.

 

As long as things stay dry, Indianapolis will be formidable.  If rain enters the picture during the game, though, Chicago will take advantage of the wet track.

 

5.  Keep those fingers crossed.  After the now-infamous Wardrobe Malfunction incident at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston , the NFL played it safe with Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones in the last two Super Bowl Halftime Shows.  This year, though, the league is stepping out of the box a bit with Prince.  Faulty clothing will be the least of the NFL’s worries with this great performer.  The problem they’ll have is getting him off the field so they can finish the game. 

 

6.  My prediction.  The Bears and Colts between them have won 13 league titles, 11 of those coming prior to the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. 

 

This is the Bears’ second Super Bowl appearance; they trounced New England 46-10 in a dominating performance in Super Bowl XX.

 

This is the Colts’ third visit to the Super Bowl.  The first time they made it, way back in Super Bowl III, they were stunned by the New York Jets 16-7.  Two years later, after joining the Jets in the newly-formed post-merger American Football Conference, they beat the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V.  Despite a record ten turnovers between the two teams, the Colts got a last-second field goal from kicker Jim O’Brien to capture arguably the ugliest Super Bowl played to date.

 

Super Bowl XLI won’t be the prettiest game ever played, but it certainly won’t be boring.  It’s not out of the realm of possibility that this one comes down to a last-minute field-goal try, but I don’t think it’s going to get quite that far.  The right amount of offense and defense will win this title, and I think that Indianapolis has both. 

 

 

7.  One more game.  Since CBS is covering the Super Bowl this year, they also get to cover the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, the season-ending all-star exhibition.  This year, the game is being played the Saturday after the Super Bowl, February 10, because the Grammy Award presentations are on the next night.

 

I know that a lot of people don’t care about the Pro Bowl.  But it is a unique spectacle among the all-star games of the four major sports.  And it’s always a toss-up as to who wins. The NFC has won two of the last three Pro Bowls, and the overall series, dating back to 1971, is tied at 18 games apiece.  Somebody’s gotta break the tie, and since an AFC team will win the Super Bowl, I’m calling the NFC to win the Pro Bowl.

 

8.  Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.  This is my last column for Useless Knowledge.  It’s been a wonderful run.  Thank you for taking time to read my work over the last couple years.  I’ve enjoyed it immensely, and I look forward to doing some other things with my time. 

 

One of those will be calling my dad.

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About the author: Claxton Graham has written over 100 articles for Useless Knowledge. He has also written the unpublished novels Now Batting..., Santa's Sleigh Is Missing and The Writer's Nightmare. He works as a business analyst.

Email: scifiwriter8502@email.com

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