Colts give Bears a kicking

AMERICAN FOOTBALL/Super Bowl XLI: A rain-soaked Tony Dungy celebrated becoming the first black coach to lift the Vince Lombardi…

AMERICAN FOOTBALL/Super Bowl XLI:A rain-soaked Tony Dungy celebrated becoming the first black coach to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy with the words: "Everybody just did their jobs."

Dungy's Indianapolis Colts certainly earned their vast salaries on Sunday night by winning Super Bowl XLI with a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in Miami.

It was the Colts' first title since Super Bowl V, 36 years ago, and it could not have been sweeter for Dungy.

"I'm just so proud of my players to battle under these conditions and hang together and play as one," he said after outwitting Bears coach and protege Lovie Smith, who worked as his linebackers' coach at Tampa Bay from 1996-2000.

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Quarterback Peyton Manning lived up to his star billing by clinching the MVP award, but he was quick to praise the defensive effort of his team-mates.

"The defence played outstanding by getting turnovers and getting us the ball back," said the 30-year-old, enjoying the crowning moment of his distinguished career.

He passed for 247 yards and a touchdown, while rookie Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes combined for 190 rushing yards as the Colts dealt with the wet conditions better than their opponents.

Manning completed 25 of 38 passes, including a 53-yard touchdown to Reggie Wayne in the first quarter, while Rhodes recorded his first 100-yard rushing game since 2001, gaining 113 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

"Peyton was very patient despite the weather, our running game gave us a big lift and our defence played together, Dungy added. "Everybody just did their jobs."

Addai, who added 77 yards on the ground and caught 10 passes for 66 yards, hailed Manning's team ethic, saying: "Peyton understood that he had a lot of players around him to take advantage of.

"He understood that he didn't have to do it by himself, so we got the job done."

The Colts' defence also forced five turnovers, including three by Bears quarterback Rex Grossman.

Cornerback Kelvin Hayden, who replaced injured starter Nick Harper in the second-half, made the biggest defensive play when he intercepted a floating pass by Grossman along the right sideline and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown, opening up a 29-17 lead with 11 minutes 44 seconds remaining.

Hayden said: "We just stepped up the whole post-season where we just made the plays and the defence buckled down."

Chicago coach Smith admitted he and his team had been outflanked.

"When you turn the ball over as much as we did, it's really hard to win," he said. "You have to give them a lot of credit. They had a great game plan coming in.

"Hopefully, next season we can take one more step and finish the job."

The Bears were trying to win their first title since 1986, but the NFC's best defensive team yielded a staggering 430 yards to the Colts.

"The defence and I just didn't make plays," said Chicago's Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher.

"All season long, we have prided ourselves on our defence and making plays and we did not come out and do that today."

After Chicago rookie Devin Hester became the first player to return the opening kick-off of a Super Bowl for a touchdown, the Bears were second best.

Indianapolis dominated the line of scrimmage, controlling the ball for 38 minutes and outgaining Chicago 430-265 - during one stretch across half-time, the Colts ran 23 of 24 plays from scrimmage, with the Bears' only snap resulting in a fumble.

Grossman, who made 25 turnovers during the season, bobbled away a snap in the second quarter and was intercepted by safety Bob Sanders in the final period.

Grossman completed 20 of 28 passes for 165 yards, including a four-yard touchdown to Muhsin Muhammad with 4:34 to play in the first quarter, giving the Bears a 14-6 lead.

But the Colts scored the next 16 points.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a 29-yard field goal and Rhodes bulled in for a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Vinatieri, best known for kicking two Super Bowl-winning field goals for the New England Patriots, added field goals of 24 and 20 yards in the third quarter to give the Colts a 22-14 advantage.

Robbie Gould kicked a 44-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter, pulling the Bears within 22-17.

But Grossman made two critical mistakes in the fourth quarter as he lofted a pass down the right sideline to Muhammad, who was well covered by Hayden.

On Chicago's next possession, Grossman threw a long pass over the middle intended for Bernard Berrian, who was double-covered on the play, and Sanders picked off the pass.