Indianapolis 29, Bears 17. Thus ends Chicago’s once-a-generation visit to the NFL championship game. The rain and Prince, as well as the final score, lent a soggy, dispirited feeling to the proceedings.
But on the plus side, I feel like I really must have grown as a human being. I watched without dismay or rancor: I let loose with one first-half “god damn it,” but after that nothing stronger than a “God bless America” escaped my lips (the presence of an impressionable and watchful seven-year-old helped check any over-the-top displays, as did the fact the Bears were outplayed for all but the first few minutes of the game. Bottom line: Stuart Smalley would have been proud of me).
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It was a tough way to end for the Bears but they had a good run and they’re loaded up for another good run next year.
We’ll see about next year. The Bears do not have a record of carrying success from year to year. That’s part of what made this season so surprising and wonderful: it kind of came out of nowhere (how did a team that played the kind of game it played against the Cardinals–not that that game wasn’t a delight, at the end–get to the Super Bowl?).
I was thinking about the game again after my short post last night, and I think the Colts were really remarkably good. The way they dealt with the Bears defense reminded me of the way Montana and the 49ers played in the mid-80s. They’d just find ways to take apart defenses and score; meantime, their own defense was usually very good, and the other side would really have to work for its points. I think the year before the Bears got to the Super Bowl, they had a very good team, and their defense was superb. They battered the Redskins into submission, then came out here to play the 49ers. The Bears offense could do nothing, the defense spent most of the game on the field, and the Niners prevailed 23-0. Except for the first quarter, last night’s game was almost that lopsided. The Colts would have been tough for anyone to beat, I think.
The Colts defense really stepped up in the playoffs. That was the difference. Hard to believe this team gave up almost 400 yards on the ground to Jacksonville.