NFL 2006: The road to Super Bowl XLI

[Drago]

*wanders up quietly behind Asi and Jeff, wearing his old McNair jersey* Say, any room on that bandwagon for one of your donors? Yup, I'm following the Ravens all the way to the Superbowl, strictly to see my boy Mac pick up that Superbowl ring that should have been his six years ago. Come on Baltimore, y'all made it all the way on a mighty defence once, surely you can do it with a QB better than Trent 'up for rent' Dilfer?

Was a thrillride for Titans fans this year; if that lousy Kerry Collins hadn't ruined our season from the beginning, it would've been the Jets watching from home while Tennessee makes a run for the championship. Whatever, next year it'll be different. The Colts are on the downslide, while things are looking up for us tackheads. Vince the prince will take us all the way, and guys like Keith Bulluck will get the recognition they deserve.
And say everybody, how's every other team's offensive rookie of the year going? Oh, sorry, not everyone has one of those... lol I'm taunting people from a team out of the playoffs. Weird.
Oughta be interesting to see where Tenn turns in FA; Nate Clements is asking for a bit too much, I would love to see Asante Samuel in the two-tone blue... As for DE, I guess anyone would be better than Travis LaBoy. Eck.

First things first, let's watch with glee as Larry Johnson and the Kansas City Chiefs obliterate those lousy Dolts.
EDIT: And then, I can kick myself in the teeth for failing to realise that they'd already played, and those lousy ponies came out on top. It's crunch time Baltimore, don't let me down...

[Jeff]

*Dodges riots in the streets to get home from work

I can't believe it, 15-6 and not a single touchdown, most importantly not the touchdown that would have won it for Baltimore towards the end. Ah, oh well congrats to the Colts, may you get your butts kicked in the AFC championship game .

[Ghost]

Yeah baby! So Far all my Superbowl Picks are right. Overall I have a Saints vs San Diego SUper Bowl with the Following picks so far...

Saints Over Eagles
Seahawks over Bears (Longshot, I know)

San Diego Over Pats (Close game)
Colts over Baltimore (Games already over)

Saints over Seahawks
San Diego over Colts (LDT shreds them up in that game)

Then Finally, i'm going to have to pick Saints over San Diego. THough they may not be able to stop LDT, The Saints have Reggie Bush, McAllister, Brees, Colston, Horn (should be playing) Henderson, Copper... I just think they will beat the Chargers 34-27 in a close game.

[Pokemaster Ash]

Whoa... Who ordered the murder?

In one of the most impressive displays I've seen, the Bears simply massacre the Saints with a score of 39-14. Four touchdowns, three field goals, and even the oft-unseen safety, which was the result of an intentional grounding penalty on Drew Brees, one of TWO he got nailed for in this game.

Rex Grossman started out slow, but when the second half came around he was on fire, as was the Bears' offense and defense. Also the Saints just buckled under the pressure with a lot of fumbles in that game.

Coach Lovie Smith got his gatorade shower at the two minute warning, and the Bears are headed to the Super Bowl! Go Bears!

[Master Rudy]

Well it's set! It's going to be the Bears and the Colts in Super Bowl XLI! Being raised in Cincy gives me no love for the Colts so I'm gonna say the score will be:

Bears: 57
Colt: 2

I'll give them the safety.....
(10 pts if you know the refercence ^_~)

[.hacker]

This is the first time the Bears will be in the Super Bowl since XX, which was 21 years ago. As long as Grossman can play another good game, and the defense keeps going strong, the Bears will have the game.

[Jeff]

Considering how screwed I still feel by the Colts, I'll have to root for da Bears.

[Drago]

Damn, damn, DOUBLE DAMN. It's hard to express just how much contempt I have for the Colts, though I reckon anyone who sees a hated division rival go to the Superbowl knows exactly how it feels. Now, there's only one step left before Peyton Manning will forever be hanging over my head, with the one-Lombardi benchmark that can never be taken away.
None of the teams along the way could stop them, not even the Patriots with a 21-3 lead. Now, only my second-favourite team can end Manning's reign of terror. If Indianapolis goes to the Superbowl and falls short, he won't have a leg-up over Steve McNair's Titans of 99/00. This is it. This is the time of my life when I care most who wins the Superbowl, save the aforementioned Titans effort.

The Colts can't win this. They can't. Brian Urlacher my friend, it's time to smack some Dolt.

[mr_pikachu]

To be honest, I was pleased to see Indianapolis win - though only because I have a grudge against the Pats after they toppled the Rams for the title several years back. Still, I don't care much for teams that focus so heavily on the performance of one player, and the Colts are practically football's definition of a one-man team. Plus, Chicago has that whole miracle factor going (despite being the #1 seed)... gotta go with the Bears here.

Grossman needs to get to work early and establish the passing game early; that'll allow the backs to do their stuff against Indy's pitiful rush defense. Some stops by the Bears' big men will also help to strain the Colts' game plan. It won't be an easy game by any means, but these are the two biggest keys to victory.

[dratinihaunter13]

I'm so happy for Peyton. Did you see how he could hardly watch Brady make that final drive? He just looked at the floor the whole time. Then when the Colts D picked off Brady, Manning couldn't hold back that smile. I've never seen him happier, and I think he's due for a ring. I just still can't explain how his team lost to the likes of the Texans during the regular season. Postseason's all that counts I guess.

Grossman's an upstart, and he's due for a signature melt-down.

I'll definitely be rooting for the Colts and Dungy this superbowl, but the game should be pretty good. Both teams are pretty bipolar and I dunno which ones will show up. Prediction to come later.

[Drago]

You're dead to me Martin. If the Colts win I'm coming straight for you.

[Green_Pikachu]

As much as I want the Colts to win, I think all signs are pointing to the Bears for victory.

They have the better defense, are playing the underdog role (again), and have enough fire power on offense to score the points they'll need. Rex having a meltdown is a moot point, because the Bears will gameplan around him. They'll let him make throws off play-action, but otherwise restrict what he'll be doing. I doubt we see Rex throw more than 25 times Sunday. I don't think he'll need to anyway. Jones and Benson will have a nice game, and keep Manning off the field enough so that he can't get "in the zone".

I'm gonna go with the Bears: 24-20.

[Drago]

I doubt I need to do this, but I've never used the spoiler tag before and it seems too neat to go unused, so...
(Spoiler:) Indianapolis Colts
Superbowl XLI Champions
29-17

This damage is gonna sit with me for... well, pretty much forever. I'll be over this intense funk by tomorrow, but nothing will take away the fact that these Colts did what my Titans could not. Indeed, there's always next year, geez I've got my whole lifetime to see the Titans win the Superbowl, but Peyton Manning will be Superbowl victor forevermore.
Anyway, congrats Colts. The last three years were just a scarefest for me, first as they threaten to go 16-0, and by season's end, to see if they take the championship. Now, they've pulled it all together; and what better story? They won because their defence was alive when it mattered. They won even though the Bears showed what they were about in the first kickoff. They won, climbing over Steve McNair along the way. And they won, with Peyton Manning (incorrectly) titled Superbowl XLI MVP.
No need now for me to cry foul when the most hated rivals take the championship, I know that as bitter as this result is, a Titans Superbowl victory will relieve all pain. After all, I'm a Titans fan first, Colts hater second.

Congratulations again to the Indianapolis Colts, who win, and, as evident in their playoff run, who deserved it.

[dratinihaunter13]

I'm very happy for Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy. They definitely deserve this superbowl along with many hard-working veterans on that Colts team. As for the SB XLI MVP, I'd probably give it to Addai or Bob Sanders instead of Peyton, but c'mon it's Peyton Manning and I don't think the Colts could have win this game without him either. Congrats Peyton, get that ring baby!

[.hacker]

I have to admit, but this game sucked.... >_>

[Jeff]

Well, all in all the season was a disappointment for this Baltimore native. Just when my hopes were up they got crushed in that 15-6 loss that could have gone either way right up to the end. All I wanted to see after that was someone beating the Colts. Oh well, there's always next season, until then... *grabs Orioles cap and waits till Spring.

[Drago]

I have to admit, but this game sucked.... >_>

Both teams were sloppy, the Bears offense was downright dreadful and in the end it was a two-possession game, but I personally thought the game was pretty exciting to watch. Maybe it's just that I wanted the Colts to lose so bad that I was more interested, but I thought the turnover-filled, frustrating first-half stalemate was pretty good to watch. Christ, it was a lot better than last year's Superbowl; really bad officiating pisses me off, and this year it was pretty good to excellent.

[Green_Pikachu]

the game was really good, ESPECIALLY the first half. the turnovers were expected in those conditions, it wasn't the players' faults. it was POURING for a majority of the game, thus making the ball very slick (5 fumbles, rex botched a few snaps, and the colts botched an extra point).

and, rex grossman deserved the MVP more than anyone, because he won the game for the colts with his terrible play. he stood out the most (albeit, negatively) of anyone else on the field.

[dratinihaunter13]

I miss football =(.

[Drago]

I have a feeling Rex will get over this real fast. He made mental errors in the Superbowl, not hard to do. He was dreadful, granted, but he's got the confidence and the Favre mentality, if he doesn't dwell on this, I can see him making up for it in about four or five years time.

And don't worry Martin, we'll soon have the Pro Bowl! (Once dubbed the Farce Bowl, alleviated of that title due to it now having the presence of Vince the Prince.)

[mr_pikachu]

Bears fan loses bet, prepares to change name to Peyton Manning

And that's why you shouldn't gamble.