2008 Woodie Awards
Super Bowl XLI should live up to its name
By: Cody Fields
Issue date: 1/31/07 Section: Sports
Cody Fields
Sports Editor
It's that time again. It's time for an audience of nearly a billion people across the world to focus on a one and a half acre piece of grass in Miami, Fla., as well as the time for $2.6 million commercials. It's time for Super Bowl XLI, which kicks off at 6:25 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 4. This year, the game should even live up to its name, which it doesn't often do.
This particular Super Bowl features two teams that haven't seen the NFL's title game in some time. The Chicago Bears haven't earned it since the 1985, when they won Super Bowl XX. The Indianapolis Colts haven't made the trip since their days in Baltimore, when they won Super Bowl V.
2007 marks the first time a black coach has ever led his team to the Super Bowl. In fact, both teams are led by black coaches. Chicago coach Lovie Smith has lead a team from mediocrity the year before he arrived in 2003 to one of the NFL's most respected teams. Indy coach Tony Dungy is in his fifth year with the Colts, and has turned a mess left by Jim Mora - which made the frustrated utterance of "Playoffs?!" a catchphrase - into an offensive powerhouse and Super Bowl contender.
The Colts offense comes in third overall, while the Bears defense is fifth overall. However, the Colts' awful rush defense gave them the 23rd over all defense, but the Bears, with inconsistent quarterback Rex Grossman who threw 20 interceptions in the regular season and put up a mediocre 73.9 quarterback rating, manage the 15th ranked offense in the league.
Obviously, Grossman is one of the most unreliable quarterbacks to ever get to a Super Bowl, so Chicago will have to rely heavily on Thomas Jones, who led the team in rushing with 1210 yards and six touchdowns, to dismantle a Colts rushing defense that was so bad during the regular season that it would have fit better in a season of Madden 07, allowing 173 yards per game.
However, though the Colts D was so abysmal during the season, it has been on lockdown in the playoffs. Rather, it has become a "tenacious D" of sorts and hasn't allowed a team to break the century mark in rushing yards, and has given up a little over 150 passing yards per game in the postseason.
Sports Editor
It's that time again. It's time for an audience of nearly a billion people across the world to focus on a one and a half acre piece of grass in Miami, Fla., as well as the time for $2.6 million commercials. It's time for Super Bowl XLI, which kicks off at 6:25 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 4. This year, the game should even live up to its name, which it doesn't often do.
This particular Super Bowl features two teams that haven't seen the NFL's title game in some time. The Chicago Bears haven't earned it since the 1985, when they won Super Bowl XX. The Indianapolis Colts haven't made the trip since their days in Baltimore, when they won Super Bowl V.
2007 marks the first time a black coach has ever led his team to the Super Bowl. In fact, both teams are led by black coaches. Chicago coach Lovie Smith has lead a team from mediocrity the year before he arrived in 2003 to one of the NFL's most respected teams. Indy coach Tony Dungy is in his fifth year with the Colts, and has turned a mess left by Jim Mora - which made the frustrated utterance of "Playoffs?!" a catchphrase - into an offensive powerhouse and Super Bowl contender.
The Colts offense comes in third overall, while the Bears defense is fifth overall. However, the Colts' awful rush defense gave them the 23rd over all defense, but the Bears, with inconsistent quarterback Rex Grossman who threw 20 interceptions in the regular season and put up a mediocre 73.9 quarterback rating, manage the 15th ranked offense in the league.
Obviously, Grossman is one of the most unreliable quarterbacks to ever get to a Super Bowl, so Chicago will have to rely heavily on Thomas Jones, who led the team in rushing with 1210 yards and six touchdowns, to dismantle a Colts rushing defense that was so bad during the regular season that it would have fit better in a season of Madden 07, allowing 173 yards per game.
However, though the Colts D was so abysmal during the season, it has been on lockdown in the playoffs. Rather, it has become a "tenacious D" of sorts and hasn't allowed a team to break the century mark in rushing yards, and has given up a little over 150 passing yards per game in the postseason.
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