Super Bowl Recap: Yeah, I Know, It's Been A While

The worst part is, they did it to themselves.

Yes, the Super Bowl lie-down is starting to fade into a yellowing memory, like a years-old coffee stain and just as bitter . And no, I haven’t been purposefully avoiding it just because I don’t like to talk of Chicago sports failures. Dude, I’ve been seriously, seriously busy.

But my BEARS were in the Super Bowl, and I cannot let this moment pass. Even if I’m weeks late with this update, I still need to get my thoughts down on virtual paper.

All season long the BEARS truly believed that if they played their best game, no one could beat them. And while there’s no shame in losing to Peyton Manning and the Colts, the outcome was painful because we’ll never know if they were right.

Rex Grossman turned into Bad Rex, particularly in the second half, but really particularly in the fourth quarter, when he threw two interceptions with the outcome still undetermined. It wasn’t just him, though. The defensive line couldn’t get any pressure on Manning, no one could stop Joseph Addai, the BEARS’ running game was nonexistant (and we’ll also never know what would have happened if Cedric Bensen hadn’t gotten hurt, because he did, and that’s that).

The first three minutes of the game made the BEARS look unstoppable. Devin Hester returned the opening kick for a touchdown and the Colts’ first drive ended with a Chris Harris interception. The BEARS led comfortably at 14-6 after the first quarter.

If the BEARS had played as well for all 60 minutes as they did in the first 15, and still lost, it would have been easy to accept the fate and look ahead to next year. Instead, we had to sit and watch this overachieving team bumble away its chance at everlasting glory.