Colts-Bears Superbowl OL/LBs

[DougDew]

Just watched it again for the first time in 10 years.  What struck me was how easily we ran the ball up the gut, behind Saturday, Jake Scott, and Ryan Lilja; and how active the LBs were in limiting YAC. 

 

I hardly saw a play where we got less than 2 to 3 yards up the middle, with over 3 yards being pretty common.  Contrast that with the last few years of watching RBs like TRich and Gore get hit at the LOS or before.  The Bears were playing off the ball in fear of the passing game, but what a nice refreshing thing to see when an up-the-gut running game actually works.  And Rhodes and Addai were not special as RB talents.

 

The LBs looked so much better than what we have had the past few years.  I can't believe we hated on them so much back then.  While TEs, RBs, and WRs were open alot and got their catches, there was usually somebody right there to make the tackle and one or two others right there in case it was missed.  How often have we seen the past few years where receivers run free for a while before any defender gets close.  That defensive scheme looked so much more active and cohesive that what I've seen from the Colts the past few years.

 

Yes it they had Grossman and we had Manning, and the rain played into it.  But that game showed me some differences between the philosophy of defensive scheme/players between then and now.

[crazycolt1]

We ran the ball right at Brian Urlacher. He couldn't stop runners coming right at him. He was great in pursuit but got faked out pretty easily when juked. There were times when Addai and Rhodes made him look lost.

Bob Sanders just being on the field made the defense play better. Not only his play but how better the rest of the defense followed suit.

I know most have this attitude about Rex Grossman but in 2006 he did throw for 3,193 yds and 23 tds. The Bears were 2nd in the league in scoring but was 3rd in point scored against them. He did take them to a 13-3 record so he wasn't as bad as some make him out to be in 2006. Turnovers were his downfall.

[DougDew]

23 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

We ran the ball right at Brian Urlacher. He couldn't stop runners coming right at him. He was great in pursuit but got faked out pretty easily when juked. There were times when Addai and Rhodes made him look lost.

Bob Sanders just being on the field made the defense play better. Not only his play but how better the rest of the defense followed suit.

I know most have this attitude about Rex Grossman but in 2006 he did throw for 3,193 yds and 23 tds. The Bears were 2nd in the league in scoring but was 3rd in point scored against them. He did take them to a 13-3 record so he wasn't as bad as some make him out to be in 2006. Turnovers were his downfall.

Yeah, people like to hate on Grossman but that wasn't the Bears problem.  He was put into a tough situation because we controlled the ball so much, and it was raining. 

 

 Grossman completed passes, but the receiver was tackled almost immediately.

 

Brackett, June, Keiaho, and Rob Morris were everywhere.  It helped to have talent at the CB position.  Our FS, Bethea, looked awful a lot of the game.

[2006Coltsbestever]

We simply had the better team in 2006 compared to the Bears. I think playing teams like Baltimore and the Pats really prepared us for that SB. The AFC was loaded back then.

[crazycolt1]

10 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Yeah, people like to hate on Grossman but that wasn't the Bears problem.  He was put into a tough situation because we controlled the ball so much, and it was raining. 

 

 Grossman completed passes, but the receiver was tackled almost immediately.

 

Brackett, June, Keiaho, and Rob Morris were everywhere.  It helped to have talent at the CB position.  Our FS, Bethea, looked awful a lot of the game.

Yeah the 5 turnovers killed the Bears. Heck, the Colts had 3 turnovers themselves but the Bears were more damaging with the pick six by Hayden sealed the win. We had 2 picks and 94 return yards.

[crazycolt1]

5 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We simply had the better team in 2006 compared to the Bears. I think playing teams like Baltimore and the Pats really prepared us for that SB. The AFC was loaded back then.

With the exception of Dungy deciding to kickoff to Hester the coaching staff called a very good game. Ball control works every time. This was the classic example of RBBC with 191 yards on the ground.

A lot of people forget that not only did Addai have 77 yds rushing he also had 66 yds receiving.

[PrincetonTiger]

Weather had a big impact on the game

[runthepost]

It should have been back to back champs if the name of who shall never be said didn’t shank that kick 

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

With the exception of Dungy deciding to kickoff to Hester the coaching staff called a very good game. Ball control works every time. This was the classic example of RBBC with 191 yards on the ground.

A lot of people forget that not only did Addai have 77 yds rushing he also had 66 yds receiving.

Peyton was smart that game and didn't force anything after his INT in the 1st Qtr. He knew he could keep Chicago off balance by running the ball a lot because Chicago feared his passing game.

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, runthepost said:

It should have been back to back champs if the name of who shall never be said didn’t shank that kick 

We actually could've had a 3-Peat had we won in 2005 because in 2007 Bob was healthy. Had Freeney not got injured I think we beat SD and the Pats proved they were beatable by letting Eli beat them.

[crazycolt1]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We actually could've had a 3-Peat had we won in 2005 because in 2007 Bob was healthy. Had Freeney not got injured I think we beat SD and the Pats proved they were beatable by letting Eli beat them.

Yeah, not to mention Baskett tried to catch an onside kick with his facemask and a missed 51 yarder by Stover.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

Yeah, not to mention Baskett tried to catch an onside kick with his facemask and a missed 51 yarder by Stover.

Yeah that was 2009 and Hank Baskett sucks for that. That turned that whole SB around. We were up 10-6 with all the momentum and Hank could even do 1 simple job, fall in the freakin football. I will never forgive him for that. If we recover that we probably go up 17-6 and at that point the Saints are in panic mode.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I look at 2005-2007 as the most dominant 3 year timeframe in Indianapolis Colts history. That was some Great stuff we watched. Yeah losing to the Steelers in 2005 and Chargers in 2007 in the Playoffs sucked but we won it all in 2006 by beating the Ravens and Pats + beat the Bears. Our Regular Season record in that timeframe was 39-9 and our Playoff record was 4-2. At home in the RCA Dome we were 21-3 during the Regular Season in that 3 year span. Damn near unbeatable at home.

[BlueShoe]

5 hours ago, DougDew said:

Just watched it again for the first time in 10 years.  What struck me was how easily we ran the ball up the gut, behind Saturday, Jake Scott, and Ryan Lilja; and how active the LBs were in limiting YAC. 

 

If you think that was impressive, you should re-watch the 2006 AFC Championship game. Saturday trucked Wilfork on Addai's game winning 3 yard touchdown to win the game. Pancaked his butt!

[Solon]

3 hours ago, PrincetonTiger said:

Weather had a big impact on the game

And to think, we're the dome team lol.

[DougDew]

I was struck by how well the interior Oline and LBs played.  Those were the two areas that really made the difference.  Not Manning, not a RB, not a WR.  No edge player mattered. OTs didn't stand out.

 

It made the difference in controlling the ball on offense and keeping their O from making first downs by YAC.

 

Thinking about that during the upcoming draft.