For those of you saying Lovie got outcoached, think about switching Manning and Grossman then tell me if Dungy or Lovie gets outcoached. Saying someone is outcoached means they were on an even playing field to begin with. Lovie is going up the side of a friggin mountain with Grossman, while Dungy gets to let Manning do his thing.
I think it's pretty obvious why they lost...the other team scored more points (in the immortal words of Mr. Madden).
But seriously, I think the point of the game in which they had it lost was when they turned it over after the Manning INT. The Superbowl is more hype, glitz and glamor than anything else. There is so much going on that momentum plays more of a factor than any other game. If the Bears were to take the Manning INT and at the least go up 10-0, the game would've had a completely different outcome and pace to it.
The Colts were the better team. Does that take away from anything that the Bears accomplished during the season? Absolutely not. They still had the most wins, won the NFC and set the pace for years to come. By keeping that defense intact, the front office will hopefully address some offensive needs, and then look out.
Overall, fantasy and regular football, this season was a great one. Lots interesting storylines (TO anyone?), great games (Bears v Arizona MNF / 9ers V. Broncos for last playoff spot / etc...) and a man who put every other fantasy player to shame.
I am sure I am not alone when I say that waiting until next season will be agony.
mattUTD20 wrote:For those of you saying Lovie got outcoached, think about switching Manning and Grossman then tell me if Dungy or Lovie gets outcoached. Saying someone is outcoached means they were on an even playing field to begin with. Lovie is going up the side of a friggin mountain with Grossman, while Dungy gets to let Manning do his thing.
but you could also say that dungy has to deal with gary brackett and doesn't have urlacher. you're never gonna be on even footing, but the coach should at least play to their strengths. letting grossman ham it up on 2nd, and 3rd & short isnt too smart. especially when tom jones was averaging 5 yards and change. putting your safeties 20 yards deep, plus dropping your lb's into pass coverage isnt too smart, especially when they're running over you, and picking you apart with the short routes. ESPECIALLY when you're getting no pressure on the quarterback. the quarterback that has proved again and again that he begins crumble when it gets hot. the colts were the better team, and might've won regardless, but don't let them beat you play after play, the same way. over and over again. adjustments man!
mattUTD20 wrote:For those of you saying Lovie got outcoached, think about switching Manning and Grossman then tell me if Dungy or Lovie gets outcoached. Saying someone is outcoached means they were on an even playing field to begin with. Lovie is going up the side of a friggin mountain with Grossman, while Dungy gets to let Manning do his thing.
You don't have to be on an even playing field to say someone was outcoached. Winning the coaching battle involves things like playcalling, adapting to what the other team is doing, adjusting gameplans, etc. Say what you want about having to have Grossman at QB, but the thing is that Chicago continually called short passing plays that play right into what the cover 2 defense wants you to do. Huge failure on the Chicago playcalling front on not adjusting to what was clearly not working.
The opposite was done by Indianapolis however, where the Bears were taking away the deep ball all day and Indy was able to take advantage by running short patterns and passes over the middle. Another failure here by the Bears defensive strategy not adjusting and forcing them to do something different. They simply made it too easy for Indy to run plenty of long, time-consuming drives by tossing it to the RBs and TEs for easy yardage.
These are key mistakes in the coaching arena that were made that really hurt the Bears chances of winning. Would they have lost anyway even with improvements in these areas? Maybe. But it doesn't change the fact that Dungy did outcoach Lovie.
I think the Bears were outcoached and their offense against the Colts defense was outplayed. When Thomas Jones carried the team down the field where Grossman threw his TD, the announcers crowed on about how lovie smith said he was going to run and run and if that didn't work, he'd run some more. That happened in the 1st quarter and after that point there was 27 pass plays called and only 11 run plays called. Neither was working, but Smith should have stuck with the run. He had the better chance of pounding on the undersized D and break off more 52 yard runs. But, he paniced because they got a few points down and leaned on Grossman...who was already a big question mark to begin with.
More examples of the offense letting the bears down.
Drives The Bears had 15 drives, 8 of which went for less than 10 yards. Another 3 went for less than 20 yards.
The Colts had 14 drives with only 4 less than 10, 3 for less than 20.
Time of Possession The Bears longest possession was 2:22 minutes.
The Colts longest was 7:34
2nd and 3rd quarter Bears offense gained 29 yards.
Colts offense gained 240 yards.
During the time, the Bears scored 3 points, the colts, 16.
I don't care how good your D is, if your offense is this anemic, that puts your D on the field for a LONG time and puts a lot of stress on them. You can blame Grossman or you can blame Smith...or you can blame both.
mattUTD20 wrote:For those of you saying Lovie got outcoached, think about switching Manning and Grossman then tell me if Dungy or Lovie gets outcoached. Saying someone is outcoached means they were on an even playing field to begin with. Lovie is going up the side of a friggin mountain with Grossman, while Dungy gets to let Manning do his thing.
I still think Lovie is one of the best coaches, but his gameplan was horrible for the SB. Pouring rain, getting beat by the run all first half, and you still keep taking away the deep ball? Also, his abandonment of the run before it became necessary. Yes, losing Benson hurt, but Peterson has proven himself a quality backup, Jones had been ripping teams apart, and the last thing if you're Chicago that you want to do is put this game in Grossman's hands, but they did, voluntarily.
Saying switching QBs is a ridiculous scenario because Chicago had the better defense. You can't just say, lets take the best starter from team A swap with the worst starter on team B, and compare them.
Lovie did get out coached, and that was part of the problem. But ultimately he couldnt predict Grossman giving the game away in the 4th quarter which made it no longer a contest.
I havn't read the repsonses posted by anyone else here, but my answer to this question is THE COLTS PLAYED A BETTER GAME!
All due respect to Lovie and the Bears, but they just didn't show up...and the defensive got tired....It's was just several series of trainREX by the Bears!
Due to recent cutbacks and until further notice, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.
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by Munboy » Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:03 am 
