Benn Hodapp – Colts 38 Bears 20

The only team I cared about in this entire playoff season was the Chargers. No, I’m not a Chargers fan, but I did want to see my boy LaDainian Tomlinson get what he deserves. But since they choked again because of Marty Crapenheimer, I put my backing with the Colts.

The team is filled with a bunch of good guys who have been tormented with questions about why they couldn’t win the big game. Personally, I have always found Peyton Manning to be the best quarterback in the league. Tom Brady won those Super Bowls because his teams were better, not because he was better than Manning.

All I want to see on Super Bowl Sunday is a close game. Recent Super Bowls have been great, usually being decided by a field goal or touchdown. The one recent exception was the Raiders getting beaten mercilessly by the Bucs, which was good fun for everyone.

What I don’t want to see is the halftime show featuring Prince. I never thought I could hate anything more than Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson…and I was right. But this is close.

I also want Rex Grossman to be remembered as Tony Eason is remembered now. Namely, as ‘the worst quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl.’ I actually don’t think he’s all that bad, but he’s from Florida, so I hate him.

In terms of a prediction I don’t really think it will be all that close. The Colts already beat a team with, in my opinion, a better defense than the Bears in the Baltimore Ravens. I think Dwight Freeney will wreak havoc on the outside all game and will come away with a couple of sacks.

Manning will do enough to guide his team to victory, dispelling all theories of his big game ineptitude. In fact, he will be so effective that he won’t even dominate the game. He’ll scare the Bears into pass defending enough for rookie Joseph Addai to take over the game and win the Super Bowl MVP award.

Mario Martin – Colts 31 Bears 28

As cliche and overused as it may be, the good ole’ cookie cutter Letterman’s top 10 is still one of the best ways to outline an argument. On top of that, the famous format seems to be appropriate for Sunday’s clash between Chi-town and Indy.

It’s fitting because I didn’t struggle to find reasons why the Colts will be victorious in Super Bowl XLI. The challenge was deciding what the top three reasons would be. So here it goes:

1. CSI: Miami. Last week a Cook County judge announced that he would allow Tank Johnson to cross the Illinois state line to play in the Super Bowl. Is it just me, or does anyone else think this is a bad idea? They’re going to allow an unsupervised 300-pound toddler/weapons dealer to run amok in Miami during Super Bowl week. Oh, but the judge did warn him to obey the law or “dire consequences will result.” That’s the most menacing threat since one more time and you’re going to time out, I can see next week’s episode already.

2. The Manning family is due. When Peyton slips his championship ring on sometime next fall, the victory will be shared by poor Archie and Elisha. Archie’s stint in football purgatory, better known as New Orleans, has created enough good karma coming to all three. And what’s not to like about the family well-known for never winning the big game? All three share the same Gomer Pileish charm that we’ve grown to love.

3. Rex Grossman. Grossman has about as much business playing quarterback in the Super Bowl as Prince does doing the halftime show. Better yet, we might all be better off if Prince plays quarterback and Grossman entertains us at halftime. Either way, I’m sure his performance will be quite comical.

Matthew Beltran – Bears 24 Colts 17

Rex Grossman has the chance to do what quarterbacks such as Jeff Hostetler, Brad Johnson, Ben Roethlisberger and Trent Dilfer have done. The accomplishment I’m talking about is to be the worst quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl.

What the Bears have in common with the Super Bowl-winning Giants, Bucs, Steelers and Ravens is they have an amazing defense and don’t ask their quarterbacks to win, just to try not to lose the game.

Roethlisberger was close, throwing two interceptions and having a QB rating of 22.6, but luckily for him, his running backs did all the work.

Grossman hasn’t shown the whimpering mess of a 1.3 QB rating in the playoffs and the Bears’ defense has stepped up in stopping the Saints’ topranked offense. The Peyton Manning feel-good story can only last for so long because as soon as the clock starts, the game is riding on his shoulders.

Depending on Manning’s play, he will decide whether the Colts win or lose. The Bears’ whole game plan is to control the clock and not put the ball in Grossman’s hands. If Manning and the Colt’s offense turn the game into a high-scoring affair, expect Grossman to fall apart.

The Bear’s have always been in a comfortable position in their two playoff games and never asked too much from their offense. If the Bears are down and Grossman is forced to win the game for his team, then I predict him to throw picks into the double digits.

Despite all that, I don’t see Manning winning a Super Bowl until he’s 35 and a year or two away from retiring.

I’ll take the Bears’ defense in this match-up and the unit has proven it can turn over the ball and make plays. This is a defense that can score points and I have a feeling that 21 of those 24 points are going to come from the Bears’ special teams and defense.