Vigilante Sports

Today it’s the match ups that get all the pub. This is the sexy part of the game. Can the Bears defense contain the Colts prolific offense? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Chicago Bears defense

Defensive Line: Legal trouble notwithstanding, the Bears D-Line showed up in the NFC Championship game against the Saints. Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown, Ian Scott, Alfonso Boone, Israel Idonije, and Mark Anderson were a force. This is a unit that has taken some time to get back on it’s feet after the loss of former Pro-Bowler Tommie Harris. For the Super Bowl, they’ll be facing a smaller line, 2 good running backs, and of course, Peyton Manning. Manning has proved very difficult to sack in his career. The Bears defense doesn’t necessarily sack Manning to be effective against the pass. They just need to make him uncomfortable. Move him out of the pocket, make him hurry his throws, stuff like that. I don’t anticipate the Bears getting a sack on Sunday, but they definitely need to get pressure.

Linebackers: Cream of the crop. Everyone’s favorite, Brian Urlacher is the boss and leader of the defense, but he’s got some guys that play on either side of him that are top notch as well. Lance Briggs has been brilliant this year. He made it to the Pro Bowl in his contract year. Not to bad for him, hopefully the Bears brass will be wise enough to make salary room to keep this guy. On the other side is Hunter Hillenmeyer, who to me doesn’t get enough credit. He will never be the best linebacker, and probably will never go to the Pro Bowl. He is capable and allows Urlacher and Briggs the opportunity to shine. Back to the man in the middle, Urlacher. Here is why he’s so amazing. He is fast enough to shift to the outside to cover Reggie Bush, and he’s powerful enough to stuff the run as well. The linebacking corp of the Bears is a strong point of their defense. They will play well on Sunday.

Secondary: The Bears secondary is strong at corner, but saftey might cause some headaches in the Super Bowl. Of course the Bears are going up against the Colts high-powered offense. In the NFC Championship they faced the Saints’ top-rated passing attack. They won the game, but unfortunately they didn’t really stop the Saints through the air. The Bears defense has been opportunistic all year. They are coached to not just create turnovers, but to score. That is their goal. They were successful this year. They need to be against Peyton Manning and the Colts. Manning will probably select a member of the Bears secondary, and pick on him all day. It will probably be Charles “Peanut” Tillman on the outside and Todd Johnson in the middle of the field. Peanut has been up and down. He can get beat deep, but as of late, he’s really picked up his game. Manning should be careful about picking on Peanut, if he’s on Peanut will pick him off a couple times.

Indianapolis offense

Offensive Line: The Colts offensive line is a little under-sized, but they also are very effective. They are anchored by Jeff Saturday, Ryan Diem, and their best offensive lineman, Tarik Glenn. Glenn is a solid blocker. They all are good run and pass blockers. No one really stands out as a great player but they haven’t allowed many sacks of Peyton Manning and they have paved the way for Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai this year. So they’re doing something right.

Wide Receivers: Possibly the deepest WR corps in the league. Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison are both capable of dropping 150 yards and 3 TDs on a defense every game. Of course they have the best QB in the game throwing it to them, but they also make him look good on some plays. Not only do they have the marquee guys, but they also can hit you with Dallas Clark, who has moved from a TE/H-back position into a quality number 3 receiver. They have weapons. They can all catch the ball, and they know how to sit in open spots in the zone. It will be hard for the Bears D to match up here.

Running Backs: The Colts sport a pretty tough running back tandem similar to the Bears. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes provide the running attack. Neither one seems to have the upside that Jones and Benson have (hard to tell with Addai, he might be the real deal), but they are solid, and they do what they need to do. Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield, which is something that the Colts like to do. The Colts offense keeps the defense off guard. They are able to audible and change the play at the line.

Quarterback: Well, now that he’s won the AFC Championship, people are saying that the pressure is off. I don’t buy it. Dan Marino played in a Super Bowl, didn’t win and it haunted him his whole career. This game is bigger than any AFC Championship game. It’s the Super Bowl. And Manning knows it. The key for Manning is turnovers. If he can hold onto the ball. The Colts could pound the Bears on Sunday. If he plays like he has in the playoffs so far, they Colts might be in trouble. Tony Dungy and the Colts will most definitely lean on Manning to win the game for them. If he can handle it, they look good, if not… the Colts can look really bad.

How do you think the battle between the Bears defense and the Colts offense will shake out?

Next we will look at how the Bears defense compares to the Colts offense.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Chicago Bears, Football, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.