Just for Sport

Note: On Monday, I broke down the Colts and Bears by position. Today, I give five keys that must happen for each team to win. Friday, I will give my pick and make some other predictions concerning Super Bowl XLI.

Colts
1. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes must be able to run inside as well as they run the stretch play.
It’s no secret that the Colts bread and butter run play is the stretch. The problem with that this week is that Brian Urlacher is arguable the most mobile middle linebacker in the league. The Colts were able to (somewhat) neutralize Ray Lewis by running straight at him. The good thing for the Colts is that they know they can do it; they just have to execute.
2. Peyton must spread the ball around.
There’s no question that the Bears will be ready for Harrison and Wayne. But can they be ready for all of the other weapons?
3. Bob Sanders must establish himself as a run stopper.
If he can do this, he will lift a mighty heavy burden off of the rest of the defense. If he cannot, the Bears will most certainly take advantage, run it down the middle all game, and chew up clock.
4. The defense must get at least two takeaways.
You almost have to believe that the Bears will be able to get at least two, so the Colts will have to keep pace and give Peyton enough opportunities.
5. Adam Vinatieri and Hunter Smith must kick away from Devin Hester.
There were at least two games that I can think of right now that Hester won for the Bears, simply because the opposing coach was too proud to tell his punter to angle the ball out of bounds. The Colts will not be able to afford to give the Bears any kind of momentum whatsoever, and kicking the ball to this year’s most prolific returner would do just that. Lost in all the talk about their defense is the fact that their special teams were pretty bad, too.

Bears
1. Lovie Smith must run the ball early.
Let me temper this: don’t be too stubborn. That’s the mistake Herm Edwards and Brian Billick made. Not only must Lovie call run plays, but Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson better get in there and break some tackles and gain some yards. If the Bears can’t establish the run, the Colts will get the ball more, which is never a recipe for success.
2. Rex Grossman must protect the ball.
If Rex turns it over, the Colts will capitalize. I don’t care how confident the kid is on media day, if he coughs it up, the momentum will be on the Colts’ side.
3. The defense must put pressure on Peyton.
The tried and true way to beat the Colts is to force Peyton into mistakes. The Bears run a pretty basic defense with not very much blitzing, so the front four will have to do the job.
4. Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman must contain Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.
If they can’t, it won’t matter if Peyton spreads the ball around. If you allow these two to run free, the Colts will win 9 times out of 10.
5. The Bears must get on the board first.
We saw the Bears come back on the Arizona Cardinals, but they were the Cardinals. If you give points to the Colts, they will step on your throat and finish you. “If you want to crown ‘em, crown ‘em!”