There was so much written about, talked about, and surmised, about the two quarterbacks before yesterdays Super Bowl and it now appears that most of the prognostications turned out to be close to the mark. The Colts were favored, won, and the jinx that Peyton Manning was said to be carrying around with him like a pox, the theory that he’d never win “the big one,” has ended as he won his Super Bowl title and collected the game MVP to add to it. However, on the Chicago side of the coin, much was written as to which Rex Grossman would show up, and it turned out to be “Bad Rex,” much to the total disappointment of Bears fans everywhere.

The Bears will likely take a long look at who plays quarterback next year. Is it a lock that this guy is never going to get the consistency needed to be successful a qb? After all, he did lead them to the super bowl. But it was how he got them there that is of concern. He does not seem to have a “middle road,” and this is why he carries the media tag of “good Rex, bad Rex.” Not all of bad Rex’s poor games end up in losses; I can recall a few of his stinkers that ended up as wins for the Bears. I’m sure the Bears offensive co-ordinator adjusts game plans to simplify things for him, but he still manages to come up with a few really bad decisions that somehow always seem to haunt him. For an outdoor team quarterback he made a few, possibly weather related mistakes in the Super Bowl, that you would not have expected and the turnovers as a result hurt his team. Not what was expected of a quarterback that had brought his team to the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning carried the jinx of never having been able to “win the big one” for a long time, it’s now Grossman’s turn to carry the monkey on his back of the good Rex, bad Rex reputation until he is able to shake that off and gain the regular consistency that he will need. He is a young quarterback however, and with more games under his belt he may just shake that handle very soon. Will the Bears wait for this?

Peyton Manning silenced all his critics by winning the Super Bowl, a feat that many though he’d never accomplish. His stats were not all that outstanding, but his game management was terrific. He threw extremely well considering the poor weather in Miami and directed a running game that eventually over powered the vaunted Bears defence. All this after starting down seven to zip after Devin Hester ran back the opening kick off for the Bears. The Bears defence never seemed to be off the field and Manning’s play selection and clock management stifled them. I was of the opinion that defence wins Championships, and this held true, it was however the Colts defence that played better and this had a lot to do with the fact Manning and the Colts offence managed to allow their defence a lot of bench rest time.

Now we head into the NFL down-time until the next season, see you at the draft.