Super Bowl glory within reach for Bears

After two weeks of excessive and over-the-top hype, an NFL champion will finally be crowned tonight when the Bears battle the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium. "We're 60 minutes away from having a ring on our fingers for the rest of our lives," said quarterback Rex Grossman.

A victory over the Colts (15-4) would give the Bears (15-3) their 10th world championship and enable the team to achieve the third and final goal that Lovie Smith stated when he was hired as head coach in January 2004.

After bowing out of the playoffs with a home loss to the Carolina Panthers a year ago, Smith came up a one-word theme-FINISH-that has served as a rallying cry all season.

"Finish is big for this team," said receiver Muhsin Muhammad. "We felt like we left some opportunities out there last season and we didn't finish. You call it destiny or whatever you want to call it, but I call it determination. We know that if we finish the job, then we've done what we set out to do."

The Bears have done an excellent job of finishing in the playoffs, outscoring the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints 24-0 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Chicago is 26-1 when leading after three quarters in Smith's three seasons with the only loss coming in his first game as coach in the 2004 opener against the Detroit Lions.

The Bears also won two games they trailed entering the fourth quarter this season-at Arizona and at Detroit-after going 0-15 in those situations during Smith's first two years as coach.

"We've had a chance to finish a lot of football games," Smith said. "We've played a lot of close games and some kind of way we find a way to pull it out. There's one more step for us to say 'a job well done' and we're anxious to have that opportunity."

Smith was openly cheering for the Colts to beat the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game because of his close relationship with Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy. Dungy gave Smith his first NFL job as linebackers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2000.

"A dream of mine was to have a chance to play the Colts," Smith said. "My dream was for Tony Dungy to get to the Super Bowl. That dream has been fulfilled. Now it's about the Chicago Bears trying to win the Super Bowl."

When the Bears have the ball
In the Bears' two playoff wins, Grossman has completed 32 of 64 passes for 426 yards with 2 touchdowns, 1 interception and a 75.4 passer rating. Some have wondered if the Bears quarterback can match Colts superstar Peyton Manning throw-for-throw, but Grossman isn't viewing the game as a one-on-one battle.

"I feel like I have to do exactly what the coaches are asking me to do," he said. "Run the offense, do what I'm supposed to do, make great reads, when the guy's open hit him and score as many points as possible.

"It's going to be a team effort. All year we've played great on offense. Our defense has been spectacular and our special teams have been solid. We have a great team and it's going to take a whole team effort to beat the Colts."

Grossman had an up-and-down regular season to say the least. The fourth-year pro set a Bears record by registering at least a 100 passer rating in seven games, but he also posted ratings of 0.0, 1.3, 10.2, 23.7 and 36.8. He threw 18 TD passes in the seven good outings-all victories-while tossing 16 interceptions in the five poor performances.

The Bears no doubt will rely on running backs Thomas Jones (40 carries for 189 yards and 4 TDs) and Cedric Benson (36-105-1), who have combined to rush for 294 yards and 5 TDs on 40 attempts in the two playoff victories.

"We pride ourselves in the running game," said fullback Jason McKie. "That's what we do. That's what Chicago football is all about. We practice hard on the running game every day."

The Bears will face a Colts run defense that ranked last in the NFL during the regular season, yielding 173 yards per game. But Indianapolis has improved dramatically in the post-season, permitting an average of only 73 yards on the ground in three playoff victories.

Many have credited the Colts' resurgence to the return of hard-hitting safety Bob Sanders, who missed all but four regular-season games with a knee injury.

"That's oversimplifying it and not giving enough credit to the rest of the guys, but I think that is the difference," said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. "Sanders came in and gave them some energy, gave them some confidence. He flies around, he plays so hard, he plays so fast and he's such a good player."

Desmond Clark could be a key factor in tonight's game. The veteran tight end ranked third on the Bears this season with 45 receptions for a career-high 626 yards and tied receiver Bernard Berrian for the team lead with six touchdown catches, the most by a Chicago tight end since Keith Jennings also had six in 1995.

In the four games this season that Clark had at least five receptions, Grossman completed 71.4 percent of his passes for 1,142 yards with 10 TDs, 1 interception and a 122.5 passer rating.

"I think when I'm playing well, he's helping me play well," Grossman said. "He's open and doing things that create mismatches. We're calling plays and we're getting good looks on those plays and he's getting involved in the game, and we definitely want to be able to do that come Super Bowl Sunday."

Berrian has been a big-play threat in the playoffs, catching 10 passes for 190 yards and 2 TDs. No other Bears player has more than four receptions. The speedy Berrian teams with Muhammad to give the Bears a potent 1-2 combination.

"We complement each other well," Berrian said. "Moose is a great receiver. He'll go in there and get all the tough catches and do all the dirty work. I get to do all of the speed stuff. I stretch the field and I get some reverses here and there. We work so well together. Moose has been in the league for so long, he's been such a great mentor for our receiving corps."

When the Colts have the ball
The Bears defense faces its greatest test of the season tonight against Manning, who led the NFL this season with 31 TD passes and a 101.0 passer rating. The seven-time Pro Bowler completed 65 percent of his passes for 4,397 yards and tossed just nine interceptions.

"We know what Peyton's done in this league in his ninth year," said middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. "He's on his way to becoming numbers-wise the best quarterback in the history of the NFL, so it's a big challenge for us. We all know that."

Manning is a student of the game and coach on the field who takes pride in his preparation. That's part of the reason that he was only sacked 14 times during the regular season.

"He knows what he's doing," Urlacher said. "He knows what we're doing probably before we're doing it. When you check, he checks. If you check back, he checks back.

"You're probably not going to fool the guy. He's probably seen every defense thrown at him in the last nine years that you can see. He's smart, he gets rid of the football and he doesn't take a lot of sacks."

Manning often calls plays at the line of scrimmage, walking from tackle to tackle while gesturing wildly to his receivers. Some of his signals are relevant; others are just designed to confuse the defense. The key for the Bears is to just play their defense and not overreact.

"You start listening to all that and you start losing your keys, not playing attention to what you're supposed to be doing," Urlacher said. "All we have to do is read our keys and play fast, and we'll have a chance to make plays."

In the Colts' three playoff victories, Manning has completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 787 yards with 2 TDs, 6 interceptions and a 66.8 passer rating that's more than eight points lower than Grossman's 75.4.

Manning is surrounded by playmakers. Another future Hall of Famer, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, caught 95 passes for 1,366 yards and 12 TDs this season. Reggie Wayne added 86 catches for 1,310 yards and 9 TDs. Rookie Joseph Addai rushed for 1,081 yards and 7 TDs on 226 carries, while Dominic Rhodes ran for 641 yards and 5 TDs on 187 attempts.

A Bears defense that led the NFL with 44 takeaways and tied for eighth with 40 sacks figures that it must generate pressure on Manning to win tonight's game.

"We want to hit him before he gets rid of the ball," said defensive end Alex Brown. "It's just like any quarterback. The things that we do don't change because it's the Super Bowl. We're going to still do what we do.

"We're going to get after the quarterback and hopefully get him out of his rhythm. Maybe he'll throw us a ball or two, and we can make a play on them." - ChicagoBears.com news