El, I think the colts are going to win, but it's not going to be the blowout that everyone is predicting on this board. And the reason I brought up the Colts road record was not because this is a road game per se but rather to demonstrate how poorly the Colts play outdoors. Manning is almost a completely different quarterback outdoors then he is in the dome. That was my argument. And I demonstrated that by showcasing his 4-4 road record this year. My argument for taking the Colts is I can't see Grossman getting a SB MVP which is usually the case when you win. Manning is a much better quarterback then Grossman and because of that I give the edge to the Colts. But I would not take the Colts -7, I would probably bet the over.
Playing in sunny florida with no gust of wind ( if thats the case on game day ) is as close as one can get to a dome game...but i agree -7 may be way too much .... hence my even steven bet
El, it's not the wind. LOL. It's the grass. It has to do with speed. Teams that are built on speed, i.e. the Rams and the Colts, need a harder surface. Quarterbacks like Mark Bulger, Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning rely heavily on timing routes. When they play in domes, they are use to throwing the ball to a certain spot on the field based on how fast a receiver can run his post routes. When they play on grass, it throws the quarterbacks timing off. It's actually a really big deal. So no, weather is not an issue to playing outdoors. But the speed of the surface is critical.
Undoubtedly QB's playing indoors have the highest pass completion success. Without looking up the order, Warner, Bulger and Culpepper (!!) are the three top career leaders in pass completion pct. Beyond completions the indoor vs. outdoor comparisons are nebulous. The highest ranking QB's in history are two 49'er passers (Young and Montana) who played on grass in windy Candlestick. Farve is poised to break several Marino (outdoor) records while playing in the NFL's most challenging climate. In fact Farve is noted as a sub-par indoor QB. Before Brees (who had similar numbers in SD) have the indoor Saints ever had a top passing offense. Or the Lions? Or the Falcons? Unlike Warner who was ALWAYS an indoor passer (Northern Iowa, Arena League, Rams) Manning has excelled indoors or out. BTW: Manning's QB rating in 2005 was nearly 20pts higher on the road than in Indy.
Mav, what do you see the Bears scoring - -seriously - -what are u seeing for points? Also, please dont see me as Manning apologist. I hated this guy -- even before he was born. On my call for 27 points from Indy, it's actually a pretty plain vanilla schlock call. Look in any paper at sports writer picks or picks the public sends in and I bet you see many are in the mid to upper 20s for the favored team in Super Bowls. Safe, no extremes. It keeps coming back to what can the underdog score. I bet you see a bunch of guys thinking 1 TD plus 1 or 2 FGs for 27-10; 27-13; 27-16 - that kind of outcome. All I did was go with the low end - - Indy 27-10 for bet on Indy and the Under.
The Bears will demolish the Colts....unless "bad Rex" shows up. The Bears are on a mission, and it's a team mission. With the Colts...it's the Peyton Manning show. No Manning...they ain't even in the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl. Can't say that about the Bears. They'd be here, with or without Rex. If he starts throwing wild, the turnovers will kill them. If Rex stays cool and does not make dumb choices, the rest of the team will deliver. Bears 38 Colts 17
Bears 37, Colts 34. Goes down to last 20 seconds with a failed Manning posession and a missed field goal to try to tie the game... nitro
I would not take the under for anything. I could see the Colts beating the Bears 27-23 or 27-24. You are nuts if you think the Bears are only going to score 10? What the hell are you basing this on?????????????????????? The Colts cannot stop the run!!!!! The Colts cannot stop the run!!!!! The Colts cannot stop the run!!!!! The Colts cannot stop the run!!!!! Jones and Benson will put up 2 Td's and 150 yards at least. The Bears defense and special teams will set up one score and throw in a few Gould field goals. And If the Bears win the turnover battle (not saying they will), they will beat the Colts outright. It's as simple as that. If Manning gets too aggressive and airs it out too much, the Bears will pick him off.
It's not the passing completion %, but the speed of the offense in domes vs outside. Manning has been nothing but a sub par quarterback on the road and outside. This year he was awful. If he is forced to air it out he will get picked 3 times, write it down. Pabst you seem to forget that this Colts teams was fighting just to make the f*cking playoffs at the end of the season. They had to fight just to win their division. They dropped 4 of their last 7 games. And Manning looked awful in those games. I will say this for sure, regardless of whether the Colts win or not, Manning is going to get picked at least twice, if not three times, he will have under 250 yards passing and complete 55% of his passes. Nothing bad mind you, but a very mediocre game. Write it down and take the over.
2007 Colts Playoffs Larry Johnson 32 yards Jamaal Lewis 53 yards Cory Dillon 48 yards I'd say they are stopping the run way better than they did in the regular season (the swiss cheese run defense I called it). Peyton Manning 2 TD and 7 INT. That is the killer stat. If he didn't suck so bad in the post season (every year he has been in it) I think the 3 playoff wins wouldn't have been so close, but that is how Manning plays after the regular season ends. Should make for an interesting Superbowl.