Super Bowl XLI Colts vs. Bears Predictions

The path to the Super Bowl of these two teams has been somewhat similar. Both had stellar regular season records, that slumped towards the end of the season.

The Colts offense struggled at the beginning of the playoffs, and at halftime of the AFC championship game, it looked like Peyton Manning's playoff CD was stuck on repeat. Unbelievable numbers in the regular season, then playoff shutdown. I have been a Peyton Manning fan since he came into the league, and even I was ready to change the channel at halftime.

But what happened next was by far the most defining moment in his career, and what I think will catapult him from one of the good quarterbacks of his generation, to one of the greatest of all-time. He led his team to the greatest come back in AFC Championship history, and for the first time, saw and gave what it takes to win the big game. And this is what I think will be the difference between these two teams in the Super Bowl this year. Leadership.

I think the Colts will win because Peyton Manning is going to be more focused, driven, and more compelled to victory than any player or person on or off the field on Sunday. His entire legacy is at stake, and I think for the first time in his career, he has a lot of confidence going into a big game.

The only way the Bears will win on Sunday is if they produce a lot of turnovers via special teams. The Bears offense will not be very productive, and will have to rely on their defense as they have done all season to win the game. This will prove to be very difficult for the Bears, being that the Colts are very stingy when it comes to turning the ball over on offense.

Although the Colts have a better offense than the Bears do defense, and that the Bears have one of the all-time idiot quarterbacks to make it to the Super Bowl, one place the Bears have a huge advantage is special teams. The Colts special teams has coughed the ball up multiple times in the playoffs, and has very poor kickoff and punt coverage, which could prove to be deadly if they don't contain Devin Hester.

In summary, barring any huge plays by the Bears special teams, I think the Colts win 31-17. Hopefully I will go 3 for 3 on the new blog. Let me hear some of yall's thoughts.