The Super Bowl is two weeks, not one game

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The Super Bowl is two weeks, not one game

I remember when the Fighting Illini were in the NCAA Tournament Championship game against the UNC a couple years ago. After they lost that game, the next day Andy Dolan remarked how he was surprisingly not that bummed out about the loss. After some thought, he figured out why. That was going to be Illinois' last game anyway. They weren't eliminated. They just lost.

And so it is with the Super Bowl. The Bears won't be eliminated from anything if they lose the upcoming Super Bowl. There will be a winner and a loser, but nobody is advancing to anything. It's not "win or go home" anymore. It's "win and/or lose and go home."

And just like that Illini team was so incredibly fun to watch that it would have been a shame for them not to play the absolute maximum, I just kept wanting to see this Bears team play one more time.

And so now they will. One more time.


Do you ever wonder why no one ever talks about winning the Super Bowl? (Sure they mention that Dan Marino never won the big one, Peyton needs a ring, etc.) But by and large you never hear people speak much of "winning the Super Bowl." You hear "get to the Super Bowl" all the time. Because that's the pinnacle. That's the grand stage. That gives you a shot.

I realize the ultimate of any sport is putting on that ring or hoisting the trophy at long last. But it seems that in football more than any other sport…getting there is the goal. The Bears' preseason goal being verbalized over and over and over and over in training camp? Get to the Super Bowl. ("We have a good enough team to get to the Super Bowl." "We expect to be in Miami in early February." "I know that Rex is the guy to get us to the Super Bowl." "Anything short of the Super Bowl would be an extreme disappointment.")

This right here is the ultimate. These two weeks. Think about it. You get the podium and confetti and a huge trophy and big on-field presentation for just getting to the Super Bowl. And then you get two weeks of unadulterated glory.

Sure winning the ring puts you in a very elite group. But really…this is the fun part. If you win the Super Bowl, there is one night of post-game fame. Then what do you have…maybe a parade and then the next week you send a couple guys to the Pro Bowl just like most other teams.

The pressure is in getting there. The pressure is in avoiding the elimination. Now that they're there, I am considerably more relaxed. I don't feel on edge or the sense of desperation for a win (while all the while wanting and expecting one).

OK, so I'm not actually satisfied. When kickoff comes on February 4th, I'm quite sure that I'll be rooting insanely for the Bears to win that stupid thing. But more because it's a Chicago Bear football game on TV than anything else. That's who I am. In regards to it being the Super Bowl, it's almost that I want them not to lose more than I want them to win. I don't want to be the guy whose team lost the Super Bowl. I don't want them to have to live with that demon into next year. And yes, I want them to be the World Champs. Of course I do.


I discussed the following with a friend the other day. Are the Colts or the Bears a better football team? Obviously the Colts' program has had more long term success in recent years, but it's hard to know who has been better this season. The Colts won their games by an uncharacteristically close margin for the most part. But the Bears had an easier schedule. The Colts lost four of six down the stretch, but the Bears were in an unspeakably wretched division. The Colts were 12-4. The Bears 13-3. The Colts scored 427 points this season. The Bears scored 427 points this season (both tied for second in the NFL). The Colts allowed 360 points (23rd in the league). The Bears allowed 255 (third). But that still doesn't tell us much.

The ESPN weekly power rankings are little more than three or four so-called experts submitting a list and then averaging the outcome. Still, it can't be that much less reliable than the NCAA basketball polls that are so crucial to some folks. So I decided to average out the season's worth of power rankings for each of the teams (starting after week one action).

The Colts had the best mark in the NFL on the year with an average weekly ranking of 2.4 (including five weeks in the number one slot). The Bears were a close second with a 3.2 mean (also with five weeks at the top). See what I mean about a sense of satisfaction that the year's two best teams made it to the biggest stage?!?! (See my previous blog). It just feels a lot better this way. No one backed in. No one made a late run. No Wild Card teams. Just the NFL's best reaching the pinnacle.

Now these numbers serve only to provide a glimpse at the average perception of these two teams this year. But it does speak to consistency and national respect, I suppose. For what it's worth, the other solid teams this year came in this way: Chargers (4.2), Ravens (5.4), Patriots (5.9), and Saints (at a whopping 10.0). Furthermore, the Bears and Colts spent six different weeks in some combination of number one and two.

And they will finish one and two. Literally.


After the Bears suffered their first loss to the Dolphins, the luster of a would-be undefeated season was gone and the national talking heads seemed to lose interest. In fact, they were absolutely desperate for a different NFC powerhouse to emerge. They were so anxious for this to happen, in fact, that they began fabricating new teams to be the class of the conference.

First it was the Cowboys. Then the Cowboys fell miserably flat on their face. Then it was the Saints. But the Saints limped into the playoffs having lost two of three. So it had to be the Eagles, right? The Eagles couldn't even get out of the first round! And who's left standing? So much for all the wishings of the Sean Salisburys and Mark Schlereths. The Bears were the dominant team wire to wire. Like it or not.

It has been a magical season for the Chicago Bears. Like I mentioned, it started with (literally) everyone in the organization talking Super Bowl in August in Bourbonnais. Then they won at Green Bay 26-0 on opening day. After that, the 13 wins seemed to pile up somewhat effortlessly. They never truly relinquished their stranglehold on the conference. They said to expect a Super Bowl, and then they went out and exhibited consistency. Maybe that's why I was neither surprised nor overly elated when they blew out the Saints on Sunday (even though I picked the Saints to win…go figure.)

And speaking of which…what better way to get to the Super Bowl than a blowout? Sure the Saints were within two points in the third quarter. But 39-14??? Really?? That wasn't possible. Not only did the experts say the Bears couldn't win the game, they said they wouldn't be able to stop the Saints offense. They held them to 14 points (New Orleans had only scored 14 or fewer once all year long). Furthermore, they wouldn't be able to stop the fun. Deuce McAllister churned out a whopping 18 yards on the ground, while Reggie Bush dwarfed that with his 19.

And then to put up 39 on that defense? Even though the Bears got some takeaways, their defense only actually scored the two points on the safety. The Bear offense did the rest. New Orleans hadn't given up that many points all season long! On the other hand, that makes eight 30-plus point games for the Bears this year.

Something I heard on the radio today really intrigued me. What about the Bears' regular season made anybody think they couldn't hang in with the league's elite (NFC or AFC for that matter)? If anyone put any stock in that week 17 Packer loss, that was entirely foolish. I think the telling point was the three game road trip (Giants, Jets, Patriots) in November.

That stretch was supposed to show us what the Bears were made of to begin with. They started by blowing out the Giants. Then in one of my favorite games of the year, they gutted out a 10-0 road win over the Jets. The Jets proved to be one of the finer AFC teams in the long run. That game was indicative of a team who just knows how to win.

And so it was back east one more time the following week. The dreaded trip to Gillette. And yes the Bears lost, but again—what about that game told us they couldn't hang with the AFC's elite??? It took a Tom Brady fluke juke on a running play late in the game to keep the Bears from a legitimate shot at victory. In the end theylost by four, but that was a real football game. Two great teams battling it out. Two good defenses making plays and forcing turnovers. As Jimmy Johnson said in the postgame, "When you have two defenses like that, those aren't turnovers, those are takeaways." And I think he had a good point for once. That was one of three losses this season, but I kind of look at that as the Bears' statement game in a way.

So the fact that they handled the NFC's 11-5 Saints with relative ease down the stretch on Sunday shouldn't have been that big of a surprise I guess. Still, it sure seems like a good way to be headed to the Super Bowl—firing on all cylinders. At least that's what it looked like.


I know the Bears wanted another shot at the Patriots. At least some of them (Lovie certainly wasn't rooting for that to be sure). And it would have been interesting to get a rematch of 1986. History would have been on our side if nothing else. But a Bear/Colt Super Bowl is the best matchup in years. Hopefully that will translate into good ratings. And it would be nice if it could go down as one of the most memorable Super Bowls ever somehow.

While listening to The Score today, I heard Terry Boers discuss the upcoming showdown. He talked about how it would be a lot easier to develop and nurture hatred if it was the Patriots. It wouldn't take long to summon up some grandiose dislike for Bill Belichek. But the Colts? What's to hate? Said Boers, "I absolutely adore Tony Dungy..." Kind of weird. Then he said something that put into words what I truly feel deep down" "If the worst thing that happens is you go to Miami and lose the championship to Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning, I think that would almost be OK."

And that brings me to my original point. Peyton will likely need that ring someday to validate his career (according to some). And he may never get this close again. But I'm not hoping he gets it this time, that's for sure.

But what the heck… This is what it's all about. Two weeks of marinating in Super Bowl glory. The coverage. The outrageously-priced merchandise. The media day. The attention on the late night talk shows. The fluff pieces. The stories behind the stories. All the stuff you hate if your team's not involved. The winner? They get one night to bask. (And oh yeah, a place in history). But this is the last game either way. It's just a good old football game with my favorite team. No pressure. Go out, play well, and either win or lose. But enjoy the stage for everything it's worth. I know I will.