When Devin Hester ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown to put the Bears up only seconds into the game, I thought this was going to turn into one of the best nights in Chicago sports history. Instead, I should have remembered the fate of Ohio State only a few weeks ago when Ted Ginn Jr. did the same for the Buckeyes and his team subsequently got trounced by the Florida Gators. The fact that the Bears were only down by 5 points to Colts in the 4th quarter was a false hope – Chicago was soundly beaten after the 1st quarter on all fronts with the exception of special teams by Indianapolis. There’s also nothing quite like watching my Illini brother Kelvin Hayden run back an awful Rex Grossman interception to effectively put the game away.
To me, the story of this game was 3rd down. With the Bears so frightened of a big play from Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne, our defense failed to stop to torrent of Peyton Manning’s underneath passes to convert 3rd-and-long situations a ridiculous number of times. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, we couldn’t convert a 3rd down into a 1st down against the worst run defense in the NFL. I believed in my heart of hearts that the Bears were going to win the Super Bowl, not just because I’m a lifelong Bears nut, but that they were the better and more balanced team. However, the credit goes to the Indianapolis Colts since they overcame some lapses in the opening moments to completely dominate the game on both sides of the ball the rest of the way.
This is only the second time in my life where one of my teams made the championship game or series and failed to go all the way (the other time being the 2005 NCAA Basketball Championship with Illinois, which was even more of a personal buzzkill than last night if that could have been possible). I guess you can say that I’ve been relatively lucky during my just short of three decades on this Earth having been a witness to the ’85 Bears, Michael Jordan’s heroics during the Bulls dynasty, and the foul mouth of Ozzie Guillen with the ’05 White Sox. Still, it’s going to take quite awhile to get over the Bears not bringing home this year’s Lombardi Trophy that I truly believed was theirs for the taking.
(Image from Chicago Tribune)
FRANK THE TANK'S SLANT 
I could not believe that the Bears were so stubborn to just sit back and let Manning pick them apart underneath. They were way too conservative in that aspect on defense, especially because the weather was not exactly ideal for long passing plays. I really thought that they were going to win, too.
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I can’t wait to see what Devin Hester can do as a wide receiver. As long as he gets the ball he has a chance to to get extra yards.
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I cant believe Devin Hester he is so good they need him back a corner
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Hester is good no doubt….but not as receiver….i dont think that he will have the patients to run routs…..he will only want to run…..better off using him for only deep routes….and returns…but who knows??? he could turn into a torry holt :s..maybe
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as you can see from my e-mail address, I am a die-hard colts fan. I was one of many thrilled when we made it to the Super Bowl, and even happier when we beat thebears 29-17, yes i remember the exact score, and all the plays and the SEVERAL interceptions made by rex grossman, the lombardi trophey was taken home to the right state, and with the right time. the trophey went to a more deserving team that worked much harder, and deserved it more than any other team in the NFL that year. He only good player that the bears have anymore is brian urlacher, and i feel sorry that he has to play for such a bad team now.
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I don’t think i will ever feel as bad or sad as Devin Hester the final seconds of the superbowl down here in MIA. look at the picture of him. for all football players out there highschool, college, or pro, sympathize with our brother. “WHERE MY DOGS AT”!!!!!
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