What Uncle Ernie Missed

I, like many of you, I imagine, spent Sunday watching the conference championship games. It was a tough decision, though, because I was invited to a 90th birthday party for my mom’s Uncle Ernie in Eau Claire. Since I’m not so sure I could pick Ernie out of a very old lineup, so I bid him glad birthday tidings and buckled in for a great day of football.

In Chicago, the Saints looked like the better team early on, marching the ball down the field, and then, almost collectively, they said “Holy crap it’s cold out here.” They started coughing the ball up, Drew Brees wasn’t completing passes. When they would reach the receivers, they weren’t holding on. The Bears showed early weakness, and the Saints couldn’t capitalize, so Chicago jumped out to an early lead. If you are down by 10+ to the Bears this season, there isn’t a chance you are coming back, especially by a team that, for the most part, was groomed by Jim Haslett. Also, this game demonstrated that drafting Reggie Bush may not have been the best choice for the Saints. His lengthy touchdown was thanks in large part to the Bears loading the box for a run by Deuce, then not covering him at all. It was an easy play for Drew Brees. Also, it was nothing Michael Bennett (the Saints 3rd down back at the beginning of the year before he was traded to the Chiefs) couldnt have done. The glaring weakness shown by the Saints was a completely ineffective defense, especially on the defensive line. How do you let the Bears score 20 points? Let alone 30? In any case, if the Saints can put a talented DT in there, they will be greatly improved next year, and may win games on talent, as well as emotion.

Two and a half hours to the southeast, Indianapolis demonstrated that they were the most motivated team playing this weekend. Tony Dungy must be a hell of a motivator, because after the Colts had been raked through the mud so many times, and were getting walloped again, lesser teams would have packed it in. But something happened. The Colts defense started playing like last year’s defense. Peyton Manning shook his playoff doldrums and started to resemble the Hall of Fame quarterback we know him to be. The first quarter and a half was really a revisiting of all the things that have gone the way of the Patriots this decade. The pass to Dan Klecko in the second half was the passing of the torch. He was the second Colts lineman to score a touchdown on Sunday, and showed the newfound offensive ingenuity that had been missing for Indy all season. If they keep playing like this in Miami, I don’t see how the Bears can stop them.

And I don’t think they will. It’s a game of strength versus strength in Miami, and frankly, Indy’s strength is stronger than Chicago’s, and their weakness, at this point in time, is less glaring than the Bears’. I don’t even think the Super Bowl will be close this year, and at least it will be a more interesting game to watch than last year’s. Colts 37, Bears 14.