Week 2 of the 2007 NFL preseason features a Super Bowl XLI rematch, but whether the outcome between the two teams will be the same is highly debatable.
The Chicago Bears face the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, Aug. 20 at the RCA Dome in a game nationally televised on ESPN (8 pm ET). It will be the Colts’ first home game since beating the Bears 29-17 to win the Super Bowl last February in Miami.
While it’s only preseason, and early in the preseason at that, these two teams already seem to be headed in different directions.
The Colts were dumped 23-10 by the Dallas Cowboys in their first preseason outing last Thursday. The Bears, meanwhile, beat the Houston Texans 20-19 on Saturday.
They say defense wins championships, but the Colts bucked that trend last season by winning the Super Bowl with a defense that was dead-last against the run (although pretty good against the pass).
Against Dallas, the Indianapolis defense gave up almost 300 total yards and 23 points – mostly to Cowboys’ rookies and second-stringers. Not a good start for a team that must essentially rebuild a defensive line that wasn’t exactly outstanding last season. The Colts must replace three DTs: Montae Reagor was released in a salary cup move, former Pro Bowl tackle Corey Simon had his contract terminated Aug. 4 after missing all of last season with an illness, and, in the only completely unexpected and unwelcome development, Anthony McFarland, a Super Bowl starter, was placed on injured reserve after patella tendon surgery. That last one stings, as it means the Colts have lost their biggest and most experienced run-stuffer for the entire season.
In Chicago, the Bears’ defense has dominated in recent seasons and nearly every starter is back this season from a team that was sixth overall defensively last season. It seems like new defensive coordinator Bob Babich has few decisions to make.
Against the Texans, the Bears held Houston to 235 total yards, even though Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher and defensive tackle Tommie Harris did not play. Even the off-season issues seem to be sorted out. Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs threatened a prolonged holdout after the team slapped him with the franchise tag. Defensive tackle Tank Johnson served two months in jail on firearms charges, then got released by the team after he was pulled over for suspicion of drunk driving. But Briggs accepted a one-year, $7.2 million franchise tender offer just before training camp started, and the Bears replaced Johnson with Darwin Walker, who had 26½ sacks over the past five years for Philadelphia, making him the fourth-most productive defensive tackle during that span.
And even though it’s preseason, you can’t help but think Chicago will want to avenge their Super Bowl loss at the earliest opportunity, which will be this coming Monday.
Oddsmakers don’t have lines available for the game as of this posting, but check out Bodog or BetUS in the next few days, and take a long look at the Bears.
Nick Bailey
