Both the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts started the season 9-0, and both finished with 4 losses. The Colts just happened to win 1 more game than the Bears did. The big game. Coming out of the AFC Playoffs as the #3 seed the Colts finally silenced the Manning critics 29-17, the final score of SuperBowl 41 over the Chicago Bears #1 out of the NFC.

Going into the game there were alot more Rex Grossman critics than Manning critics, but the theme of the week seemed to be focused on the proverbial "monkey" on Peyton's back, and whether or not the Colts could knock it off. "It's hard to put into words," said Manning, who hit 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards with one touchdown and one interception. "I'm proud to be part of this team. We stuck together, won this game for our leader, Tony Dungy." The work load for the Colts came from an unexpected source. Dominic Rhodes rushed for 113 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown, as the Colts combined for 191 yards on the ground, against what was thought to be one of the best defenses in the league. "I'm so proud of our guys," Dungy said. "We took the hit early with Devin Hester. We talked about it; it's going to be a storm. Sometimes you have to work for it. Our guys played so hard and I can't tell you how proud I am of our group, our organization and our city."

Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards untouched into the Colts endzone for a quick 7-0 Bears lead, very reminiscent of the Ted Ginn Jr kickoff return in the BCS Title game, that set the tone for what would be a bad Ohio State loss. The Bears in all turned the ball over 5 times, 3 by way of fumble, and 2 Grossman 4th quarter interceptions, one which was the "nail in the coffin" taken back 56 yards for a touchdown by Colt defender Kelvin Hayden.

Rex Grossman couldn't hold on to snaps, consistently slipped or tripped over his own feet, and was called for several false starts throughout the game. The Colts also turned the ball over 3 times themselves, but all in the first half of a 16-14 advantage at halftime.

Adam Viniteiri booted three fieldgoals for Indy, and set a post season record by scoring 49 points in the playoffs. A record that is sure to held until Ladainian Tomlinson plays his way to the SuperBowl via the wildcard round.