Mattie T’s Extensive Preview & Prediction for Super Bowl XLI

The time has arrived for the biggest sporting event of the year!

30 teams can only wish to make it this far.

Only 2 teams remain to battle eachother for 60 minutes to end up with the ultimate prize: The Vince Lombardi Trophy as the champions of the NFL.

Here are a couple of tidbits about this year’s big game:

Super Bowl XLI will be the 1st that NFL comissioner Roger Goodell will preside & assist with presenting the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the winning team.

It wil be the first Super Bowl that will feature two African-American head coaches, Lovie Smith & Tony Dungy.

Dolphin Stadium will host their 4th Super Bowl. They previously hosted Super Bowls XXIII, XXIX & XXXIII. (NFC won 2 of 3 meetings.)

Super Bowl XLI will be the 9th game (AFC won 5 of 8 career meetings) that will be hosted by Miami, Florida, which ties New Orleans, Louisiana as the two cities to host the most Super Bowls.

The 7 winning quarterbacks on each of the previous Super Bowl teams that were played in Miami are now in the Hall of Fame & 6 of them won Super Bowl MVP.
They include:

Former Green Bay Packers QB Bart Starr (led the Packers to a 33-14 win during Super Bowl II.)

Former New York Jets QB Joe Namath (led the Jets to a 16-7 win during Super Bowl III.)

Former Baltimore Colts QB Johnny Unitas (led the Colts to a 16-13 win during Super Bowl V.)

Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw (led the Steelers to a 21-17 win during Super Bowl X & led the Steelers to a 35-31 win during Super Bowl XIII, both against the Dallas Cowboys.)

Former San Francisco 49ers QB Joe Montana (led the 49ers to a 20-16 win during Super Bowl XXIII.)

Former San Francisco 49ers QB Steve Young (led the 49ers to a 49-26 win during Super Bowl XXIX.)

Former Denver Broncos QB John Elway (led the Broncos to a 34-19 win during Super Bowl XXXIII.)

CBS will broadcast Super Bowl XLI with Jim Nantz & Phil Simms in the broadcast booth.

Steve Tasker & Solomon Wilcots will serve as sideline reporters while Lesley Visser & Sam Ryan will report in the stands.

Nantz will join Dick Enberg, Greg Gumbel & Al Michaels as the only men to serve as both the pre/post Super Bowl Game hosts & Super Bowl play-by-play announcers.

This will also be the 1st Super Bowl broadcasted by CBS since the Janet Jackson incident that occured during halftime of Super Bowl XXXVIII.

NFL on CBS commentator Dan Marino will participate in the honorary pre-game coin toss.

The last 3 Super Bowl coin toss winners ultimately ended up losing the game. (Carolina in Super Bowl XXXVIII, Philadelphia in Super Bowl XXXIX & Seattle in Super Bowl XL.)

The last Super Bowl coin toss winner to end up winning the game was Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII over Oakland.

Past Super Bowl teams that were favored by 7 points (Indianapolis is a 7 point favorite) are 7-0. (New England in SB’s XXXIX & XXXVIIII, St. Louis in SB XXXIV, Dallas in SB XXVII, Washington in SB XXVI, San Francisco in SB XXIII & Miami in SB VIII.)

There will be 3,500 media personnel at Super Bowl XLI. To sum that up in perspective, the population of Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith’s hometown of Big Sandy, TX is just 1,322.

12-year veteran Tony Corrente will be the head referee for Super Bowl XLI.

Corrente served as an alternate official during Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

Cirque du Soleil will provide pre-game entertainment while Billy Joel will sing the National Anthem.

Prince is this year’s scheduled halftime performer.

Visiting team:

Indianapolis Colts (15-4, representing the American Football Conference)

Head Coach: Tony Dungy (5th season, 122-70 incl. playoffs)

Dungy is the only active NFL coach to defeat all 32 teams & also won a Super Bowl as a backup safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers during SB XIII.

Offensive Coordinator: Tom Moore (9th season)

Moore’s offense tied for 2nd in the NFL with 26.7 points per game, is 3rd with 379.4 yards per game, 2nd with 269.3 passing yards per game, 1st with 23.5 first downs per game, tied for 1st with 105 third down completions, and 1st with 56.2% 3rd down completion percentage.

Defensive Coordinator: Ron Meeks (5th season)

Meeks’ defense finished 23rd allowing 22.5 points per game, 21st allowing 332.3 yards per game, 32nd allowing 173.0 rushing yards per game, 2nd allowing 159.3 passing yards per game, 4th with 751 tackles & 30th with 25.0 sacks.

Quarterback: Peyton Manning (477 of 672 for 5,184 yards, 33 touchdowns & 15 interceptions in ‘06 incl playoffs.)

Manning has thrown 6 of his 15 interceptions during the playoffs.

Running Back: Joseph Addai (1,298 yards on 283 carries & 9 rushing touchdowns incl. playoffs). (377 yards on 52 receptions & 1 receiving touchdown incl. playoffs.)

Addai’s number of carries has decreased in every round during the playoffs. (25 against Kansas City, 18 against Baltimore & 14 against New England.)

Backup: Dominic Rhodes (834 yards on 228 carries & 5 rushing touchdowns incl playoffs. 313 yards on 42 receptions & no receiving touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Fullback: Bryan Fletcher (Helped pave the way for rookie Joseph Addai, who is the first non-starting back to rush for 1,000 yards in NFL History.)

Wide Receivers: Marvin Harrison (105 receptions for 1,500 yards & 12 receiving touchdowns incl. playoffs.)

Harrison has totaled 8 consecutive seasons of 80+ receptions, 1,000+ yards & 10+ touchdowns receiving.

Reggie Wayne (101 receptions for 1,465 yards & 10 receiving touchdowns, incl playoffs.)

Wayne recorded career-highs in receptions (86), receiving yards (1,31) & 1st downs (72) in 2006.

Third-Down Receiver: Aaron Moorehead (13 receptions for 123 yards & 1 receiving touchdown incl playoffs.)

Moorehead caught his 1st career NFL Touchdown during the Colts’ Week 16 loss to the Texans.

Tight End: Dallas Clark (47 receptions for 648 yards & 4 receiving touchdowns, incl playoffs.)

43% of Clark’s total yardage has come during the playoffs, including two 100-yard games.

Offensive Line: LT Tarik Glenn, LG Ryan Lilja, C Jeff Saturday, RG Jake Scott & RT Ryan Diem. (allowed 19 sacks incl playoffs)

Kicker: Adam Vinatieri (36-39 on Field Goals & 43-43 on PAT, long of 52 yards incl playoffs.)

Vinatieri is 2-2 from 50 yards or more during the playoffs after going just 0-1 from 50 yards or more during the regular season.

Punter: Hunter Smith (57 punts for 2,552 yards & 6 touchbacks with long of 61 yards incl playoffs.)

Smith was 10th in the NFL with a 44.4 average in 2006.

Kickoff/Punt Returner: Terrence Wilkins (61 kickoff returns for 1,451 yards & 30 punt returns for 294 yards & 1 touchdown incl playoffs.)

Wilkins posted career-highs in kickoff returns, kickoff yardage & average per return in 2006.

Defensive Line: DLE Robert Mathis (led team with 9.5 sacks) , DRE Dwight Freeney (career-low 5.5 sacks in ‘06) , DLT Anthony McFarland (appeared in all 16 games for just 3rd time in 8 yr career) & DRT Raheem Brock (career-high 48 tackles in ‘06).

Linebackers: SLB Gilbert Gardner (career-high 53 tackles in ‘06), MLB Rob Morris (team has allowed just 73.3 ypg since Morris moved to starting lineup, team allowed league worst 173.0 ypg during reg. season) & WLB Cato June (7th in NFL with 142 tackles).

Secondary: LCB Nick Harper (4th straight season with 60+ tackles), RCB Jason David (career-high 55 tackles in ‘06), SS Antoine Bethea (recorded 90 tackles in ‘06) & FS Bob Sanders (appeared in career-low 4 games in ‘06, team is 6-1 with Sanders incl. playoffs this season.)

Third-down back: RCB Marlin Jackson (career-high 82 tackles in ‘06.)

This will be Indianapolis’ 1st Super Bowl apperance since the team moved from Baltimore in 1984.

The Colts made 2 Super Bowls in Baltimore, with the most recent apperance coming during a Super Bowl V win over Dallas.

The Colts’ only championship loss came during Super Bowl III against the New York Jets, which is still regarded to this day as the biggest Super Bowl upset ever after the 18-point favorite Colts lost 16-7 to Joe Namath’s Jets.

Indianapolis will attempt to become the 1st team in NFL History to win a Super Bowl after losing 3 games in December.

Dan Klecko, Anthony McFarland, Ricky Proehl & Adam Vinatieri have appeared in past Super Bowls with 7 wins between them.
Home Team:

Chicago Bears (15-3, representing the National Football Conference)

Head Coach: Lovie Smith (3rd year, 31-19 incl. playoffs)

Smith served as defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams when they were upset by the New England Patriots during Super Bowl XXXVI.

Since going 5-11 in ‘04, Smith has compiled a 26-8 record (incl. playoffs) with the Bears over the past 2 seasons.

Offensive Coordinator: Ron Turner (2nd year)

Turner’s offense finished 2nd with 26.7 points per game, 10th with 9 successful fourth-down conversions, & 11th with an average time of possession with 30:55.

Defensive Coordinator: Ron Rivera (3rd season)

Rivera’s defense finished 3rd allowing 15.9 points per game, 5th allowing 294.1 yards per game, 6th allowing 99.4 rushing yards per game, 11th allowing 194.8 passing yards per game, 1st with 47 takeaways, 1st with 23 forced fumbles & 9th with 40.0 sacks.

Quarterback: Rex Grossman (294-544 for 3,619 yards, 25 touchdowns & 21 interceptions incl. playoffs)

66% of Grossman’s 426 passing yards in the postseason came against Seattle in the Divisional Playoffs.

Running Back: Thomas Jones (1,399 yards on 336 carries & 10 rushing touchdowns incl playoffs. 160 yards on 38 receptions & 0 receiving touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Jones is the first Bears’ running back since the late Walter Payton to record consecutive seasons of 1,200 rushing yards or more.

Backup: Cedric Benson (752 yards on 193 carries & 7 rushing touchdowns incl playoffs. 78 yards on 11 receptions & 0 receiving touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Benson received a season-high 24 carries during Chicago’s NFC Championship Game win over New Orleans.

Fullback: Jason McKie (Helped pave the way for the NFC’s 8th ranked run offense, averaging 119.9 yards per game.)

Wide Receivers: Muhsin Muhammad (64 receptions for 921 yards & 5 receiving touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Muhammad holds the record for the longest receiving touchdown in Super Bowl History, a 85 yard catch during Carolina’s 32-29 loss to New England during Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Bernard Berrian (61 receptions for 965 yards & 8 receiving touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Berrian leads all postseason wideouts with 190 receiving yards.

Third-Down Receiver: Rashied Davis (26 receptions for 387 yards & 2 receiving touchdowns, incl playoffs.)

Davis played 3 seasons with the Arena League’s San Jose SaberCats prior to joining the Bears.

Tight End: Desmond Clark (47 receptions for 669 yards & 6 receiving touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Clark set a career-high with 626 yards (regular season) & tied a career-high with 6 receiving touchdowns.

Offensive Line: LT John Tait, LG Ruben Brown, C Olin Kreutz, RG Roberto Garza & RT Fred Miller. (allowed 27 sacks incl playoffs.)

Kicker: Robbie Gould (37-41 on Field Goals & 54-54 on PAT with long of 49 yards incl playoffs.)

Gould was a construction worker for M&R Contracting prior to entering the NFL.

Punter: Brad Maynard (90 punts for 3,978 yards & 9 touchbacks with long of 66 yards incl playoffs.)

Maynard was the punter for the New York Giants during the team’s 30-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens during Super Bowl XXXV.

Kickoff/Punt Returner: Devin Hester (20 kickoff returns for 528 yards & 2 touchdowns incl playoffs. 47 punt returns for 600 yards & 3 touchdowns incl playoffs.)

Defensive Line: DLE Adewale Ogunleye (Bears are 7-0 incl playoffs when Ogunleye records 1+ sack), DRE Alex Brown (career-high 7 sacks in ‘06), DLT Alfonso Boone (has recorded at least 1 sack in each of his 6 seasons with team) & DRT Tank Johnson (career-high 26 tackles in ‘06.)

DRE Mark Anderson leads team with 12 sacks.

Linebackers: SLB Hunter Hillenmeyer (finished with no sacks for 1st time since rookie season), MLB Brian Urlacher (5th in NFL with 142 total tackles) & WLB Lance Briggs (2nd in NFL with 113 solo tackles).

Secondary: LCB Charles Tillman (10 interceptions over the past 2 seasons), RCB Nathan Vasher (career-high 12 assisted tackles in ‘06), SS Todd Johnson (career-low 33 tackles in ‘06) & FS Danieal Manning (70 tackles in ‘06).

Third-down back: LCB Ricky Manning Jr. (career-high 5 interceptions in ‘06)

This will be Chicago’s 2nd Super Bowl appearance.

The Bears’ only previous apperance was during Super Bowl XX, when Chicago defeated New England 46-10.

Brian Griese, Brad Maynard, Fred Miller, Muhsin Muhammad & Dante Wesley have appeared in past Super Bowls with 2 combined wins (Griese & Miller) between them.

Indianapolis is favored to win Super Bowl XLI by 7 points.

Mattie T’s Thoughts for Super Bowl XLI:

Even with the dominating win over New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game, Chicago is still getting a lot of disrespect from sportswriters & national media around the country.

ESPNews reported shortly after Indianapolis finished a wild comeback win over New England in the AFC Championship Game that the Colts were 7 point favorites in Super Bowl XLI.

Paul Zimmerman (better known as Dr. Z), SI’s NFL expert picked against the Bears in the NFC Championship Game & he’s picking against them again in the Super Bowl.

Sports Illustrated’s current magazine cover features an oversized picture of the Colts’ Peyton Manning as their “main” feature while a smaller picture of the Bears defense is shown at the right-hand top corner.

Former NFL Wide Receiver Cris Carter has a Super Bowl Preview up on YahooSports.com & is picking the Colts.

Even former NBA star Reggie Miller chimed in recently on his Super Bowl prediction, saying that the Colts “will destroy” the Bears.

Paul Attner of SportingNews.com seemed to have the best one-liner with his article titled “Do the Bears have a prayer?”

This is a picture of the crazied scene during the Colts’ 2 hour media session on Tuesday. As you can see from the picture, it looks similiar to…

The Taste of Chicago, which is an annual 10-day summer event which brings in over 3 million people every year.

I believe that QB Rex Grossman won’t have a great game, but he’ll do enough to lead the Bears offense downfield with the power 1-2 combo of RB’s Thomas Jones & Cedric Benson to put points on the board for Chicago.

I also believe that KR/PR Devin Hester will be a huge factor as he goes up against a speciam teams unit that allowed 231 yards during the AFC Championship Game, which included an 80 yard kickoff return by the Patriots’ Ellis Hobbs.

It will be important to jump out to an early lead on Sunday, as the team to score first has won 26 of the previous 40 Super Bowls. (.650 percentage)

I’m not even going to sit here & discuss what Peyton Manning (135.9 career QB Rating against NFC North opponents in 4 games) can do to the Bears defense because Peyton Manning can score on ANYONE, no matter if he’s going against the 1st or the 32nd ranked pass defense in the league.

One of Chicago’s very few weak links on defense are their safeties. (All-Pro Safety Mike Brown is out for the season with a foot injury.)

Peyton Manning will definitely look to pick on Todd Johnson & Danieal Manning on Sunday.

However, I don’t think Super Bowl XLI will be a blowout.

This game will be close and even though Adam Vinatieri has won 2 Super Bowls on his right leg, i wouldn’t count out Robbie Gould either. The Pro Bowl-bound kicker has shown down the stretch that he can be relied on for a clutch kick in close games.

However, Gould has yet to attempt a kick from 50 yards or more, which could be a big concern for the Bears if they need a field goal late in the game.

I’m going with the underdogs to capture that prized Vince Lombardi Trophy as NFL Champions.

Mattie T’s Prediction:

Bears 27, Colts 24.

No matter what happens leading up to Super Bowl XLI on Sunday evening, i expect all of the players to conduct themselves in a professional manner.

The last time a Super Bowl was played in Miami, former Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was arrested on the eve before Super Bowl XXXIII for offering a female police officer that was impersonating as a prostitute $40 for sexual favors.

Robinson was beaten on a 80 yard touchdown reception from Denver Broncos WR Rod Smith the next day, as Denver went on to win 34-19.

Until then,

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.BMSRadio.com

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