It's all over! The National Football League has crowned its World Champion, and it's the Indianapolis Colts. Head Coach Tony Dungy and Super Bowl XLI Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning reign supreme. In a Miami downpour, the first precipitation in Super Bowl history, the Chicago Bears couldn't muster enough offense or defense to stop the Colts. Though it was close, Indianapolis flat out beat the Bears en route to victory. Now, after a couple days of post-Super Bowl chatter, we'll have to face the stark reality that football on the weekends is no more - at least for a little while. It stinks to think that we have to wait almost seven months before teams report to camp next season, but there will be plenty of offseason trades, contract negotiations, draft pick analysis, and drama to keep us busy until then. With that said, here's a little look back at some of the numerical ins and outs from last night's big game
81 vs. 48 - Total plays from scrimmage for the Colts compared to the same for the Bears. Peyton Manning kept his team on the field, to the tune of a Colts time of possession equal to 38:04 compared to just 21:56 for the Bears. It's a chicken and the egg scenario. Did the Bears defense not stop the Colts enough? Or did the Bears offense not keep possession of the ball well enough? It's a little of both. More importantly, it's that the Colts offense made more big plays than the Bears offense, as did the Colts defense make more big plays than the Bears defense.
92 - Yards Bears rookie return man Devin Hester took the opening kickoff for an electric Super Bowl jumpstart touchdown. For two weeks people had talked about Hester being a factor in the big game, and he made his presence known in a play that took just 14 seconds. But the Colts quickly learned their lesson, and Adam Vinatieri did a brilliant job keeping Hester a non-factor the rest of the game, while not sacrificing too much in field position.
13 - Total number of tackles for Bears linebacker Lance Briggs who will be a free agent this offseason. His more widely known teammate Brian Urlacher had 10 tackles of his own. But the hard hitting duo couldn't come up with the big stops when the Bears needed them, in part because they were playing too far off the ball at the snap during those running plays and dropping too deep into coverage on those pass plays. Manning read Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera's conservative player positioning well, and he took full advantage of the space in the short game.
10 - Speaking of the short game, Joseph Addai racked up 10 receptions for 66 yards. That "bend but don't break" philosophy didn't work against the Colts. Manning saw those short routes, and he threw to the open receivers without hesitation. No egos got in the way. There was no need to throw the ball downfield. The Colts nickel and dimed the Bears, and it worked like a charm.
2 - Turnovers forced by Bob Sanders. His presence made all the difference for the Colts defense in the playoffs. His fly around and get to the football mentality was contagious, even in the Super Bowl. Sanders put his helmet right on the football causing a Cedric Benson fumble in the first half, and he picked a high floating, under thrown Rex Grossman pass in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
8 - Number of turnovers in the game. There was even a record four turnovers in the first quarter. In a sloppy, rainy game, protecting the rock was critical. And in typical fashion the team that did the better job won. The Colts finished the Super Bowl +2, beating the Bears at their own game.
191 - Total rushing yards for the Colts against the Bears. Talk about beating the Bears at their own game. The Colts ran the football, and they ran it well. Dominic Rhodes racked up a powerful 113 yards, while teammate Joseph Addai added 77 yards to the mix. Toss that in with their solid defensive play, and the Colts took the Bears recipe for victory and made it their own. In fact, they ran the football 42 times, just six fewer plays than the total number of plays the Bears offense had from scrimmage the entire game.
5.8 - Average yards per carry for the Chicago Bears running game. Granted that number is a bit skewed by Thomas Jones' 52-yard dash in the first quarter, it's still indicative of the fact the Bears did have success in the running game. Whether it was the injury to Cedric Benson or not, the Bears didn't lean on their run offense like everyone expected them to. Instead Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner executed a 60/40 pass/run split.
2 - Total rushing yards for Rex Grossman all season long. He clearly doesn't like crossing that line of scrimmage, and it cost him and the Bears big time in the Super Bowl. There are plenty of plays that can be deemed "key" to the Colts victory. Kelvin Hayden's 56-yard interception return in the fourth quarter was a back-breaker, no doubt. But Grossman's inability to run the football even when he has nothing but an open field in front of him killed the Bears. Down eight points and driving late in the third quarter, Grossman broke free from the pocket. Instead of taking the ball upfield with Thomas Jones lead blocking and grabbing an easy first down, Grossman forced a pass downfield. The ball was almost picked, and the drive stalled. Robbie Gould would nail a 44-yard field goal in the rain to salvage three points, but had Grossman ran the ball to pick up that first down, it would have been a very different game.
81.8 vs. 68.3 - Passer rating in the Super Bowl for Peyton Manning compared to that of Rex Grossman. Manning's passer rating seems far from MVP-like. And while Grossman's rating isn't fabulous, it's not all that bad. Grossman was 20-of-28 passing for a touchdown and two interceptions, while Manning was 25-of-38 with a touchdown and interception. Like most stats, we tend to put a lot of stock in this convoluted statistical rating, but if you watched the Super Bowl you know that Peyton Manning was MVP-like and had the far better game on Sunday night.
This is the final installment of the Numbers until next season. It's been fun. Thanks for reading. As always, if you've got questions or comments, email them to pete@petekhazen.com.