Super Bowl: Opportunity At Hand for Indianapolis Colts

The media obligations have melted away and the distractions of the week have, too. That part of Super Bowl week has faded from memory. The storylines have been hashed and rehashed, and every aspect of the teams playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been analyzed.

Grossman and Manning.

The Chicago Bears' offense and the Colts' high-powered offense.

Smith and Dungy.

Those have been the public topics in recent days, and from now until game-time Sunday, they will be repeated at a volume and speed unimaginable the last time the Colts played in a Super Bowl, 36 seasons ago.

But for the last few days, the focus has been almost exclusively on the game.

A very, very big game.

The biggest game of most of the participants' lives.

This is Super Bowl XLI.

And the game is here. At last.

"All we have here is an opportunity," Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said as the AFC Champion Colts (15-4) prepared to play the NFC Champion Bears (15-3) in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium Sunday at 6:25 p.m.

"That's all we've earned, and that's what this is."

And the storylines? The pre-game hype?

The media? The attention?

None of it matters. Not come Sunday.

"The thing about the Super Bowl is that there is nothing to hold back for," said Colts defensive tackle Anthony McFarland, who has emerged late in the season as a veteran leader on an improving, young defense.

"It's the end of the season and you're playing for all the marbles, an opportunity to play for a championship."

Said Colts linebacker Cato June, "I just hope my heart doesn't explode. I know my heart is going to be beating fast and I'll be getting a lot of text messages and I'll be very excited. I'm excited now, but I am trying to suppress that energy, stay calm throughout the week, and then on Sunday, just explode."

The Colts, who beat New England, 38-34, in the AFC Championship Game, last had such an opportunity in the Super Bowl following the 1970 season, when they beat Dallas, 16-13, in Super Bowl V. It will be the Colts' third Super Bowl appearance. They also lost to the New York Jets, 16-7, in Super Bowl III.

The Colts' 36 years between Super Bowl appearances is the longest such stretch in the game's history.

The Bears, who beat New Orleans, 39-14, in the NFC Championship Game, last played in the Super Bowl 21 seasons ago. In their lone Super Bowl appearance, they beat the Patriots, 46-10.

But those games are history, and although Super Bowl XLI has a historical feel, it is very much about the history involving the game's participants:

"¢ Smith and Dungy are the first African-American head coaches to coach in the Super Bowl.

"¢ Manning, a two-time Most Valuable Player and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, will make his first Super Bowl appearance.

"¢ The Colts can become the eighth AFC team in the last 10 seasons to win the Super Bowl, and the first team from the AFC South, which was formed in 2002.

"People know what's at stake," Smith said.

The Colts, who have won the last four AFC South titles, have made the playoffs each of the last five seasons and seven of the last eight.

They are the NFL's winningest-franchise in the regular season since 1999. This season, they became the second team in NFL history to win at least 12 games in four consecutive regular seasons, but until this season, they had advanced past the AFC title game.

The Colts, after becoming the first team in NFL history to start 9-0 two consecutive seasons, lost four of their last seven regular season games, losing four consecutive road games in the second half of the season.

But in the post-season, what had been a struggling defense at times in the season improved dramatically.

The Colts, who can become the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl after finishing last in the NFL in run defense, allowed 173 yards per game in the regular season. In three playoff games, they have allowed 73.3 yards per game and have not allowed a team to rush for 100 yards.

"Everybody was writing us off, 'you're doing this, you're not doing that,' '' Colts center Jeff

Saturday said. "The reality was that we still won a lot of football games. It's funny to watch throughout the season how everybody jumped off our bandwagon and then they were giving the Bears' issues.

"It kind of went the same way with both teams. The media kind of fell in and out of love with both teams. The truth is I felt like if we played good football, we had as good a chance as anybody to get here."

During the playoffs, the Colts beat Kansas City, 23-8, in an AFC Wild-Card Playoff in Indianapolis before traveling to Baltimore for a Divisional Playoff game. They won that game, 15-6, then the following week, they pulled the biggest comeback in conference championship game history.

Trailing the Patriots, the team that eliminated them from the postseason in 2003 and 2004, 21-3 in the first half and 21-6 at halftime, the Colts scored 32 points in the second half and won on running back Joseph Addai's 3-yard touchdown with 1:00 remaining.

That set off a frenzied celebration in the RCA Dome, which was hosting its first conference title game in the team's 23-year history.

"We're not a city that's had a lot of championships," Dungy said. "We're not like Chicago where they've had six NBA titles, already had a Super Bowl title. . . . The response after the championship game was unbelievable. So if we were to win, I know it would mean a lot to our city.

"And that's what we're hoping to bring and we're excited about bringing that championship to Indianapolis."

That, more than the distractions and hype, has been what the week in Miami has been about, players said. They spent a day or two savoring the victory over New England last week, and early in the week, players carried videocameras to press events in Miami, recording what for many could be a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

But throughout most of the week, players said, there only has been one focus.

"It's exciting," Saturday said. "It's been a long road. The longer you've been here, the more games we've been through . . . I've been to two AFC Championships. To be here is a great feeling. There is a lot of excitement and I'm obviously really happy to be here. It doesn't really mean a whole lot unless we win it. That's really the way I feel. I want to be about winning it, not just about getting here.

"This is what you work for your whole life. From pee-wee league on, this is as big as it gets. It's the biggest stage you can be on so it's a surreal moment. You get here and look around

and you see the Colts banners, you see the field and your name and their name. The two top teams in the league are here. It's a great feeling.

"But we have to get the win to make it really count."

As the week has gone on, players said that feeling intensified.

"Actually being here and envisioning it are two different things," Colts defensive end Robert Mathis said. "You envision it the whole time, saying, 'We want to get to Miami and we want to win.' Now we're actually here and we have to win. We've been good enough over the past three years to get to the Super Bowl and now we're finally in the position to take care of business."

Colts safety Bob Sanders said he doubts he will fully realize the enormity of the moment until after 6 p.m. Sunday.

"For me I don't think it will kick in until right before kickoff," Sanders said. "That is when it will spark and I'll say, 'We're here, look, we made it,''' Sanders said. "This is what we worked for all off-season, all summer, all through camp, this is what we grind out all season for, to make it to this point."

The time is here and the moment is at hand.

This is Super Bowl XLI.

And the game is here. At last.

"Well, certainly, I know how hard it is to get here," Manning said. "We've had some chances in earlier years. We've had good football teams and had some chances in the playoffs and it just didn't work out. You certainly want to take advantage of the opportunity if you can. That's what we have right now, an opportunity. It's one that you don't want to take it for granted. It's this team, and you want to take advantage of it. . . .

"You better try to do it when you have the chance. While we're here, we sure do want to go ahead and win it." - By Colts.com News