Today was the rare Bears game where every facet of the game receives a passing grade:
Passing game: Rex Grossman didn't put up a great line, but he finally has a signature drive to his name, going 4-for-4 for 78 yards after the safety to give the Bears a two-score lead once more. Better yet, he didn't throw one interceptable ball, and each receiver contributed. Berrian on the touchdown drive, Desmond Clark with his blocking and big catch down the middle, Muhsin Muhammad caught everything he could, and Rashied Davis had another quality end around.
Running game: Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson played thunder-and-lightning all game long and helped the Bears to control the ground. Chicago handed the ball off 46 times; New Orleans had only 12.
Offensive line: The front five allowed zero sacks, and Grossman didn't even get hit a lot. Bears linemen have to work harder than others because Grossman doesn't move around the pocket particularly well, but I can only remember one pass blocked at the line. They run-blocked well, too, and had no penalties to their name.
Defensive line: Adewale Ogunleye did something without Tommie Harris! Mark Anderson didn't look overexposed even though he saw more action than normal, and the middle of the line did a nice job in at least holding their ground.
Linebackers: Very few missed tackles, and they didn't get killed by those dump-offs over the middle like we've seen in previous weeks.
Secondary: Charles Tillman has had a much better postseason this time around. Aside from the Reggie Bush play, they kept everything in front of them, tightened up when they needed to and forced a couple of turnovers as well.
Special teams: Kicked. Ass. Robbie Gould hit three field goals easily and had some nifty kickoffs that took advantage of the wet turf. Brad Maynard kicked well all day, and was one bounce away from having two punts downed inside the five. Kick coverage improved immensely over their effort against the Seahawks, and Devin Hester provided zero scares and some decent gains. I'm not sure that Michael Lewis' fumble was actually a fumble, but swiping at the football helped the Bears immensely.
Coaching: Lovie Smith and Ron Turner had a good enough gauge of when to turn the dials up and down on Grossman, Jones and Benson, and the challenge on Ogunleye's sack and fumble was huge.
If the Bears play like they did today, they'll have every chance to beat the Colts. It'd help if the turf in Miami were soggy, so I'll be praying for rain.
Early prediction: We're going to be hearing and reading a lot about how Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith are the first two African-American coaches to make it to a Super Bowl.