Bears spread blame after loss

MIAMI – The Chicago Bears roared out to a 14-6 lead with exciting big plays, but went out like lambs after Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts sealed a 29-17 Super Bowl victory on Sunday.

Rookie Devin Hester made Super Bowl history by returning the game’s opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and Thomas Jones dashed 52 yards to set up another Chicago touchdown in the first quarter. From then on, the Colts stampeded past.Afterwards, the Bears blamed the rain at Dolphin Stadium and an anaemic offense, there were mea culpas on defense and credit was given to the Colts.”It’s extremely disappointing when you get this close to a world championship and you come up short,” erratic Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman, who threw two fourth-quarter interceptions and mishandled two snaps from center to derail drives, told reporters.”It was slippery.When the ball was snapped up from center, it would just kind of slide off my hands,” Grossman said.Colts receiver Bernard Berrian took the loss hard.”If the goal is to win the Super Bowl, anything less is failure,” he said.The Bears were outgained 430 yards to 265.They had less than half the Colts’ total of 24 first downs.They lost three fumbles in addition to Grossman’s interceptions, one of which was returned 56 yards for a score by cornerback Kelvin Hayden.”When you turn the ball over as much as we did tonight, it’s really hard to win,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said.”We got off to a great start and had an eight-point lead.The turnovers really did us in tonight.”Grossman had only 44 net yards passing before the fourth quarter, when Indianapolis relaxed on defense.”We weren’t any good on third downs,” Berrian said.”We have to convert on third downs.That’s the biggest down in football (for) sustaining drives and keeping the ball out of the other team’s hands.”Coach Smith said the Colts’ defense stepped up.”You have to give them a lot of credit.They had a great game plan coming in,” he said.Defensive stalwart Brian Urlacher said his unit deserved a share of the blame.”We didn’t do a good job of tackling,” the linebacker said.”The defense and I just didn’t make plays.All season long we have prided ourselves on our defense and making plays, and we did not come out and do that today.”Nampa-ReutersFrom then on, the Colts stampeded past.Afterwards, the Bears blamed the rain at Dolphin Stadium and an anaemic offense, there were mea culpas on defense and credit was given to the Colts.”It’s extremely disappointing when you get this close to a world championship and you come up short,” erratic Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman, who threw two fourth-quarter interceptions and mishandled two snaps from center to derail drives, told reporters.”It was slippery.When the ball was snapped up from center, it would just kind of slide off my hands,” Grossman said.Colts receiver Bernard Berrian took the loss hard.”If the goal is to win the Super Bowl, anything less is failure,” he said.The Bears were outgained 430 yards to 265.They had less than half the Colts’ total of 24 first downs.They lost three fumbles in addition to Grossman’s interceptions, one of which was returned 56 yards for a score by cornerback Kelvin Hayden.”When you turn the ball over as much as we did tonight, it’s really hard to win,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said.”We got off to a great start and had an eight-point lead.The turnovers really did us in tonight.”Grossman had only 44 net yards passing before the fourth quarter, when Indianapolis relaxed on defense.”We weren’t any good on third downs,” Berrian said.”We have to convert on third downs.That’s the biggest down in football (for) sustaining drives and keeping the ball out of the other team’s hands.”Coach Smith said the Colts’ defense stepped up.”You have to give them a lot of credit.They had a great game plan coming in,” he said.Defensive stalwart Brian Urlacher said his unit deserved a share of the blame.”We didn’t do a good job of tackling,” the linebacker said.”The defense and I just didn’t make plays.All season long we have prided ourselves on our defense and making plays, and we did not come out and do that today.”Nampa-Reuters