In response to Michael David Smith's point that the Colts are the best team in the league...I don't know that I'll ever believe that a team in the NFL could be considered the best team in the NFL when their defense is as average as the Colts'. They've played just one game this year where they've held an opponent to under 21 points, and two of the teams that scored that much on them are the Texans and Jets, neither of which was thought to be anything special offensively. They're not a complete enough team for me. Chicago is.
Let's start on the offensive side of the ball, just to give the Colts a chance to compete. Not, obviously, I'm not saying the Bears are as good as the Colts, but the difference isn't as big as you might think. It's not because I think the Colts offense has some great flaw, rather, I believe that Rex Grossman is playing, and will continue to play, at a very high level. He doesn't have a famous dad or a fake mustache in a Sprint commercial, but Grossman does have is a very high quarterback rating, higher than even Manning's.
And again, I know that Rex Grossman is not Peyton Manning. But through four games, Rex Grossman is proving that he at least deserves to be in the conversation when you're talking about the most effective quarterbacks in the league.
All across the board, Chicago's and Indianapolis's offensive statistics are quite similar. The Colts are 20th in the league in rushing yards per game, the Bears are 21st. The Colts are 4th in the league in passing yards per game, the Bears are 5th. The Colts are 5th in total offense, the Bears are 8th. Star value and conventional wisdom might indicate that the Colts have a much better offense, but that just isn't the way things have played out on the field.
To switch the focus to defense is to wrap up this thing up for the Bears. Their defense is dominant, as they showed last night against Seattle. The Colts defense is probably in the bottom half of the league, as they've proved all year. Against the run, he Colts are third-to-last in the league, giving up 155 yards per game on the ground. Chicago gives up about half of that.
The Colts look to be a little closer in passing defense, but I think that statistic's a little misleading. They rank 10th in the league in passing yards given up per game, but when it's so easy to run the ball on them, why would anyone pass it? If you look instead at their yards given up per pass attempt, it's 7.84, good for 17th in the league. The Bears are 7th in the league in passing yards against per game, and 11th if you look at the yards per attempt given up. And those numbers are probably a little bit skewed, too, as the Bears are always playing from ahead against a team that's forced to throw the ball to catch up.
Chicago is a more complete team right now, and they have a defense that will hold up throughout the regular season and the playoffs. Their offense still has a lot to prove, and Rex Grossman hasn't proven that he can get it done in a clutch situation, but neither has Peyton Manning.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-03-2006 @ 4:59PM
Ray Aviles said...
I grew up in Northwest Indiana when there were Bears fans galore during the 60's. I don't know if this is still the case, but I can imagine some diehards who passed on the tradition to their kids. I root for the Colts as my adopted AFC team, but I am a diehard Bears fan. This is where my true allegiance lies. The Bears are the better team and this stands to be seen as the season progresses. The Colt's O-line cannot match up with Briggs, Urlacher, Harris, Brown, Ogunleye, and the rest. They are just too quick and Manning would spend too much time running. The Bears O-line are stingy and fully capable of giving Grossman the time he needs. Our wideouts are stellar and Jones is getting there (considering he held out at training camp). I don't see how Indy can compare.
The Bears are clearly the best team and I can only hope that Indy will be there when the Bears prove it in Miami.
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