Super Bowl Notes

By Jeff Wilson: It is five days before the Super Bowl and the football writers are running out of material. If there is not a story about the two black head coaches, then it is most likely about Peyton Manning’s long awaited quest for a championship.

Since we have already covered those topics ad nauseam ourselves, we will move on to two other hot topics.

Peyton Manning’s Thumb

Peyton Manning’s thumb has been the most talked about body part in Miami. And if anyone has ever been to South Beach before, you know there are far better body parts to discuss than the thumb of a 6’5”, 230 pound quarterback with a laser-rocket arm.

To recap, Manning banged his thumb on the helmet of his offensive lineman during the AFC championship game against New England. Manning did not miss a play and returned to the field to lead the Colts on an 80 yard, game winning drive.

Manning has not missed any practice time for the Super Bowl, but for some reason the thumb is still an issue for the media. The opinion here is that Manning is good to go, and his thumb will not be the reason the Colts win or lose the Super Bowl.

Rex Grossman’s Head

Grossman has had one of the most up and down seasons that I can remember. He had seven games with a quarterback rating over 100, and five games with a rating under 37. In fairness, that includes the meaningless last game of the season against Green Bay when he played just the first half.

In the playoffs, we have seen more of the schizophrenic Grossman, although his quarterback rating was in the 70’s against both Seattle and New Orleans. Against the Saints though, he had a terrible first half only to rebound nicely in the second half of their blowout win.

One positive factor that seems to get overlooked about Grossman is his ability to throw the deep ball.

He had eight passes over 40 yards in the regular season this year as opposed to just seven by Manning. If the Colts secondary isn’t careful, Grossman is likely to sneak a least one long one down the field.

Of course, Grossman’s critics keep pointing out the 20 interceptions that he threw this year. Manning, on the other hand, had just nine. Even the most ardent Bears’ fan realizes that this game will be a blowout if Grossman throws three interceptions. Look for Coach Lovie Smith to keep the game-plan conservative early to beef up his confidence.

While some are calling Grossman the worst Super Bowl quarterback since New England’s Tony Eason in 1986 (ironically against the Bears), it is hard to say that about someone who is 19-7 lifetime as a starter.

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