Super Bowl XLI: Comparing the Colts and the Bears

Super Bowl XLI, to put it bluntly, will be a battle royale between Peyton Manning's Colts offense and Brian Urlacher's Bears defense. However, alongside the seemingly competitive physical matchups, a different storyline exists. For the Colts and the Bears, the difference will be not only statistics or players, but also the intangible motivators that influence each team.

Intangible #1: Quarterbacks

On offense, there's no question as to which QB comes out on top. A regular season record-holder for number of TD passes in a season (49) and the owner of the highest quarterback rating in the NFL among active quarterbacks (at 94.4, he's second only to Steve Young at 96.8), Peyton Manning is the epitome of success and poise at his position. Rex Grossman, on the other hand, is a relatively inexperienced, young QB who has suffered multiple setbacks throughout the season, enduring ridicule for his 0.0 QB rating in the last game of the season, a humiliating 26-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

However, in the playoffs, the two QBs have evened out. Over his three playoff games, Manning threw six interceptions to only two touchdowns. Grossman threw two TDs against only one INT in two games. Both have faced criticism for underachieving in the eyes of their fans in the postseason-Manning for his no TD, 170 yard performance against Baltimore, Grossman for going 11-of-26 in a defensive victory for the Bears in the NFC Championship (four turnovers by New Orleans opened the door for the Bears' D).

They both have something to prove. Manning has the opportunity to silence critics who say he cannot win the "big games," while Grossman gets the opportunity to defend his starting job once and for all. (Although even a Super Bowl win isn't always a guarantee for job security-witness the cries to replace Ben Roethlisberger as he struggled early in the 2006 season). However, Manning's throwing-hand thumb injury in the AFC championship could come back to haunt him.