Joseph Addai, Indianapolis Colts, Injured by Chicago Bears

Matt Forte, Defense, Proclain End of Super Bowl Hangover

My Chicago Bears went into Indianapolis Sunday Night and dealt the Baltimore Colts a season-opening loss, 29-13.

As The Sports Network is reporting, Joseph Addai, the Colt's star running back, had to leave the game with a head injury after a tackle by NathanVasher and Lance Briggs. Addai left early in the fourth quarter with 44 rushing yards on 12 carries and one catch for three yards.

In a related story by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times, he reports that the Bears dominated the Colts with great defense, steady work by Kyle Orton at quarterback and especially, Matt Forte, who proved to be a great rookie back in his first start, who ran for 123 yards on 23 carries including one touchdown on a 50-yard scamper.

Kyle Orton was an unknown in this new role. He proved he could handle it by passing for 150 years while utilizing seven different receivers.

The defense, much maligned all through preseason, had two stands that resulted in a safety and a touchdown.

The game was the first contest in Baltimore's new $720 million Lucas Oil Stadium and everyone, including me, expected it to be inaugurated by a Colt win. It wasn't that way.

The Bears suffered through a miserable preseason in which they had a 1-3 record and their defense looked porous. There had been the usual aggravation over the quarterback controversy which, as usual, involved Rex Grossman.

The big news for the Bears, however, was the return of their rushing attack with Forte which netted 183 yards.

Peyton Manning, admittedly, was not at 100%. He had missed all of preseason and had lost a lot of weight. Still, one had to admire the Bear's defense which held the Colts to just 53 rushing yards.

This of course was the rematch of Super Bowl XLI where the Colts ran all over the Bears. This did not smack of revenge but it certainly did give Bear fans renewed hope for the season, although, I don't know that I deserve that title any longer.

Prior to the game I had already relegated them to last place in the NFC North and me to a long season as a fan.