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Super Bowl Live Blog: Bears vs. Colts, 1st Quarter

Super Bowl Live Blog: | 1st Qtr | 2nd Qtr | 3rd Qtr | 4th Qtr |


Well that was the longest two weeks of my life. After what felt like 12 hours of pregame nonsense, the actual game is finally here. In case you somehow missed the nonstop media coverage, I'll give you a quick recap of the story lines heading into tonight:

* Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith are black;
* Tank Johnson likes guns;
* Rex Grossman is the worst quarterback in the history of quarterbacks ... including Ryan Leaf, apparently;
* Winning the Super Bowl is Peyton Manning's divine right ... kinda like people use to say about Phil Mickelson before he finally won a major;
* The Bears are seven-point underdogs but if you listen to the media they are more like 70-point underdogs. Take the points.

Sadly, the game is televised on CBS which means no Pink pregame theme song. If I've said it once, I've said it 15 or 16 times: You can never have enough androgynous intro music. I guess we'll have to settle for Billy Joel. The good news is CBS decided to bring the HD cameras this week. First time all season, I think.

Now that you're all caught up, let's get to it.

- Good start for the Bears ... they won the toss (heads). According to Jim Nantz, the NFC has won ten straight Super Bowl coin tosses. (I'll leave out the part where Nantz mentioned that the AFC has won seven of the last nine games.) Either way, we'll get to see if the Colts are ready for Devin Hester.

- Hey, see what I wrote in that last sentence above? Yeah, the Colts aren't ready for some Hester. God, I'm a freakin' genius. And just like that -- 14 seconds into Super Bowl XLI -- the Bears are up seven.

Colts 0 Bears 7

- Terrence Wilkins returns the kick to the Colts 30 and Manning & Co. will start there. On the first play of the series, Urlacher almost picks off Manning as he tries to hit Dallas Clark on a seam route.

A play later, rookie RB Joseph Addai runs up the middle for 12 yards. After an Indy false start, Manning almost throws another interception when Marvin Harrison falls down. Addai takes a swing pass to set up a third-and-7, and ... another Indy false start. I should also mention that it's raining -- has been for a while -- and this could upset the Colts' offensive rhythm.

On third-and-12, Manning pump fakes short, tries to hit Harrison long, and safety Chris Harris -- the guy that promised to take you to the Super Bowl and then pulled a "psyche!" -- makes the interception. For those of you keeping score at home, Manning has seven picks this postseason. Rex Grossman: one.

- Here comes Sexy Rexy and ... he drops back to pass on the Bears' first offensive play. And he completes it for a seven-yard gain. The rains really coming down now, and on second down, Jones is stopped for no gain. On third-and-4, Grossman throws into double coverage -- on a pass that must've hung in the air seven or eight seconds -- but the ball falls incomplete. Maynard's punt goes into the end zone.

Lucky for Peyton, no damage from the early interception.

Super Bowl Commercial Update
Okay, Sierra Mist takes the early lead ... I just saw a guy in Daisy Dukes and a three-times-around-the-head combover. I have no idea what that has to do with Sierra Mist, but I like it. Back to the game...

- Addai gains six yards on the first play of the Colts second drive, but it stuffed on second down. On third-and-2, (Phil Simms: "One thing you don't want to do is give up a big pass play ... to any team, but especially the Colts." Genius, I know.) Manning hits Harrison on a slant for their first first down of the game.

Nantz reminds me of another story line I forgot during the intro: Peyton's thumb. By the way, it's fine. (But you probably already knew that.)

Meanwhile, on third-and-4, Manning finds Clark near the sidelines for another first down. Addai goes for no gain on first down, Ben Utecht drops an easy pass on second down, and on third-and-10 Manning's in the shotgun and ... he's hit as he throws but finds Reggie Wayne WIDE OPEN in the middle of the field. 53-yards later, we've got a tie game the Colts are down by one thanks to Tony Romo Hunter Smith botching the snap.

Colts 6 Bears 7

- The good news: Indy's on the board. The bad news: They have to kick off to Devin Hester. I'd recommend kicking it out of bounds.

- Nope, but Indy squibs it ... and the Bears fumble and ... the Colts have it. Wow. Just ... wow. DE Robert Mathis made the jarring hit to cause the fumble.

- On the first play of Indy's third series, Addai ... fumbles. Hmmm. Anybody think the rain is playing a part in this?

- Holy crap, I need a freakin' time out. On first down, Thomas Jones runs right through the Colts defense for a 60-something-yard gain down to Indy's 5. Jones is stopped for no gain on first- and second-and-goal. On third down from the 4, Grossman drops back and ... hits Muhsin Muhammad on a slant. The Rex-O-Meter is off the charts right now.

Colts 6 Bears 14

- Phil Simms: "And I said the rain would not be a factor in the game." Again, nice call Simms.

Super Bowl Commercial Update
The Mind of Mencia dude has a pretty funny Bud Light commercial where he's teaching an ESOL class on how to ask for the beer depending on what part of the country you're in. Back to the game...

- Indy starts on their 16 and Addai is crushed on a first-down carry. Brandon Fletcher gains three on second down, and on third-and-seven, Manning throws a medicine ball to some dude named Morehead who suddenly got a case of alligator arms. And I don't blame him.

Devin Hester's back for the punt. Hunter Smith gets it off and ... it's an Indy moral victory -- Hester only broke two tackles and gained eight yards on the return.

- The Bears star on their 35, and Rex completes another first-down pass to Bernard Berrian. Cedric Benson gets his first carry of the Super Bowl and Bob Sanders absolutely SMACKS him. Benson fumbles and Dwight Freeney recovers.

- It's still raining hard and the Colts -- not the Bears -- are looking to the run more than I expected. Addai goes for a yard on first down, and then Manning threw incomplete on a second-down screen pass. On third-and-9, the Bears blitz, Manning goes deep to Harrison -- who's in single coverage with Vashar -- and almost makes a spectacular catch. But doesn't.

Hunter Smith in to punt to Hester for the second time ... and the Colts down it at the 4. Nice job there.

- The Bears go right back to Benson on the next drive and he's slow to get up after a three-yard gain. Tackle John Tait -- the guy blocking Freeney -- is also down on the play. Benson's one thing, but losing Tait is a big deal.

- On third-and-7, Chicago goes conservative, give the ball to Jones, and he gains three yards. In comes Maynard. The Colts are trying to trade for Hester just for this punt. Wilkins chooses not to field the punt and the Bears down it on Indy's 40.

- Meanwhile Nantz is pimping that new CBS sitcom with Puddy and David Spade, the camera shows them in the crowd, and Simms quips (I'm paraphrasing): "If that show was any good they'd be in a suite and not getting wet." Simms: 1, Puddy/Spade: zilch.

- Manning goes shotgun to start the drive and hits Addai on a swing pass that's good for a first down.

And that's it for the first quarter.

Colts 6 Bears 14

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