Super Bowl Week: The Storm before the Biggest Storm
The Bears have landed in Miami, and all the hype of Super Bowl week is about to start. These last two weeks, I've been devouring every digital bit of Bears news and analysis that I can find on the Internet and TV. It's kind of sick, really, but that's why I get paid the big bucks. Or not.
In comparing Super Bowl week to NFC Championship week, though, there's one thing different about my personal mindset. This time, I don't care about the Bears being underdogs. Last week, the Bears weren't underdogs, but damn near everybody picked the Saints to beat them. I took it personally. I've had better moments. Why should I care that 18 of 21 "experts" picked the Saints over the Bears? It should make the victory even sweeter, but in reality a victory is a victory and that's all that matters. The people weren't picking against the Bears as a slight to the organization or the fans. They simply thought the Saints were going to exploit the recently lax Bears defense. The Bears proved their worth on the field, and the scoreboard doesn't lie.
Besides, Vegas doesn't lie. This week, the Bears ARE facing a team that even a die hard Bears fan will admit is going to be tough to beat. The Colts are seven point favorites. I would have thought 5, but whatever. The Colts aren't unbeatable, though. If Grossman plays his game, and the defense can put pressure on Manning, the Bears can win. But I'll get in to that later.
Going back to the original topic: respect. I think that by Friday we're going to see the same sort of prediction ratios in favor of the Bears as we saw last week. And that's OK. I think the players saw the news last week, and they heard what was being said. I don't want to say they used it as motivation, but I really think they used it as motivation. If the Bears happen to notice that Paul Zimmerman thinks this game will be no contest? That's fine. If they see Peter King ranks the Bears the 4th best team in the NFL, behind playoff losers San Diego and New England, that's cool, too. There I go again.
I really don't care. I really don't care. I really don't care.
If I keep saying it, I'll believe it. BEAR DOWN!!!!!