Pick any two pro football teams and hypothetically pit them against one another in Sunday's Super Bowl and you could easily make a case for either team that the key to victory is pressuring the quarterback.  This week, while reading through all the previews, listening to experts debate the game, and talking about Super Bowl XLI with my friends, I keep hearing that the key to winning (for either team) is pressuring the opposing quarterback.

It's about time somebody come up with something a little bit cleverer than that.  Told from a Bear's perspective, here we go.


"The Bears must pressure Manning,"  Yeah, yeah, I've ridden that bus before, bub.

The Chicago Bears will need to pressure Peyton Manning-yes indeed-and they would prefer to get that pressure without being forced to blitz.  The Indianapolis Colts led the NFL in passer rating facing a blitz this season, so it might be wise for Chicago to drop seven into coverage most of the game.  Since they employ a defense sparse in blitzing plays anyway, this should not be a problem.

The Colts have an amazing knack for converting third downs.  The vaunted New England  Patriot defense allowed their offense to convert on 53% of the third downs during the AFC Championship game.  In the Wild Card round, the Colts converted on a 3rd-and-16 and a 3rd-and-18.  Both of these came early in the game when the Kansas City Chiefs still had a chance and their defense was playing spectacularly (with the exception of the third down plays, of course).  For the Bears to come close, they'll need to see more Hunter Smith and less of the moving chain gang.  The magic number is 35%; if the Colts hit less than that, they have no chance at winning.

The Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Patriots (the three teams Indianapolis has defeated to get this far) all entered their games with a simple game plan: run the football against the NFL's worst rushing defense and the 7th worst in NFL history.  Larry Johnson and Jamal Lewis could muster nary a yard against the Colts, while the Pats had early success and then got away from it, deciding instead to put the game in Tom Brady's immaculate hands.  Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson will both need to have big games Sunday.  And if they struggle early, offensive coordinator Ron Turner and head coach Lovie Smith will need to stick with it, so as to further make Rex Grossman's play action passes more sellable.  Grossman, contrary to popular belief, has a fantastic downfield throwing arm and so long as he has the time, and the defense is expecting a run, he can make big plays deep down the field, even with a mediocre receiving corps.

Speaking of mediocre receiving corps, Mushin Muhammad has to show up.  The so-called "big playmaker" has been a non-factor in the playoffs.  With a couple of drops in the last two games, Muhammad is due for a decent game.  If he can catch at least five balls, look out!

The Bears cornerbacks, Nathan Vasher and the underrated Charles Tillman must keep explosive wideouts Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne in front of them whenever possible.  Playing the cover 2 defense, this will not be an easy task, and at times it will be impossible or unnecessary.  The important thing is to make them catch the ball in traffic and wrap them up quickly, limiting the yards after the catch.  Chicago cannot allow Manning to find wide open receivers for big chunks of yards.  Instead, they must make him force the ball into coverage, throw it away, or settle for short gains.


You don't know who this man is?  He could be the MVP of Super Bowl XLI.

And finally, it seems often in the Super Bowl that the winning team will get a heroic effort from an unsung player; a guy who has been a starter but is not talked about as one of the "keys to victory," and who goes on to have a career day.  For the Bears to win this game, they must get such an effort from one of their role players.  Nobody questions that stars like Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Olin Kruetz are going to play well.  Who's going to be the Bear's unsung hero?  Look for Hunter Hillenmeyer, Ian Scott, or Rashied Davis to win the MVP award.