Peyton Manning rallied the Indian-apolis Colts from 18 points down and drove them 80 yards for the winning touchdown to edge the New England Patriots 38-34 in a wildly entertaining NFL playoff game on Sunday.
The Colts will face Chicago in the Super Bowl in Miami in two weeks after the Bears romped past the New Orleans Saints.
Manning, the NFL's most prolific quarterback, put on a show for the ages in throwing for 349 yards and one touchdown and bringing his team back from a 21-3 deficit, the biggest comeback in conference championship game history.
PHOTO: AFP
Joseph Addai capped Manning's late drive with the winning score, a 3-yard run with one minute left to help the Colts complete the comeback for the AFC championship and send coach Tony Dungy to his first Super Bowl -- and a very special one.
Dungy and his good friend, Chicago's Lovie Smith, are the first black coaches to make the Super Bowl in its 41-year history.
"I'll feel even better to be the first black coach to hold up the world championship trophy," Smith said after the Bears won the NFC championship.
After Indy's last touchdown, Manning was on the sideline, his head down. He couldn't bear to watch. But New England's Tom Brady threw an interception to Marlin Jackson and the RCA Dome crowd went wild. One kneel down later and Manning ripped off his helmet to celebrate.
In a riveting match full of surprises, New England left guard Logan Mankins opened the scoring by pouncing on a fumbled handoff between Brady and Laurence Maroney that squirted into the Indy end zone midway through the first quarter.
It got worse from there for Manning, who telegraphed a throw to the sideline that Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel snatched and took 39 yards into the end zone for a 21-3 lead.
Manning reverted to improvisation. He scored the Colts' first touchdown on a 1-yard run, ending a span of 20 consecutive Colts' drives without one.
On the next series, he hooked up with Dan Klecko, a former Patriots player who came in as a supposed decoy for a 1-yard touchdown. A circus catch by Marvin Harrison for the 2-point conversion tied the game at 21.
Trailing 28-21 early in the fourth quarter, the Colts found another way to score when Dominic Rhodes fumbled the ball just short of the goal line and Jeff Saturday pounced on it in the end zone.
Bears 39, Saints 14
The Bears, maligned all season despite an impressive 15-3 record, are headed to their first Super Bowl since their 1985 team won the NFL title game.
They did it in true Bears fashion -- big plays on defense and a steady running game in the sleet and snow, ending New Orleans' uplifting saga.
All the worries about how genuine the Bears' outstanding season was disappeared thanks to running back Thomas Jones, kicker Robbie Gould and a defense that, while not dominant, made enough decisive plays.
For a moment, though, in the third quarter they seemed to be in trouble.
Reggie Bush's electrifying 88-yard touchdown catch and dash to the end zone pulled the Saints within two points, 16-14. But from then on, Brian Urlacher and the Bears' defense took over.
Chicago, which has won nine NFL titles but has been an also-ran for much of the last two decades, later went 85 yards in five plays in the worst of the weather. Frequently criticized quarterback Rex Grossman had four completions, including a 33-yarder to a diving Bernard Berrian that clinched it, sending the bundled-up fans in Soldier Field into foot-stomping hysteria and chants of "Super Bowl, Super Bowl."
"We had a great game today," said Grossman, who was 11-for-26 for 144 yards with no interceptions. "This is great and all, but we have one game to go."
Jones gained all 69 yards on an eight-play ground drive in the second quarter, scored twice and rushed for 123 yards. Gould nailed three field goals.
The Bears, who led the league with 44 takeaways, forced four turnovers.
When Saints passer Drew Brees fumbled less than a minute after Berrian's touchdown, whatever karma the Saints carried this season disappeared when Cedric Benson scored on a 12-yard run.
Report clears Vick
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick wasn't carrying marijuana when stopped by security last week at Miami International Airport, ESPN reported on Sunday.
Citing anonymous NFL sources, ESPN reported Vick wasn't carrying marijuana or any other illegal substance.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wouldn't comment on the report. He said the league had received no information on the issue.
On Wednesday, Vick reluctantly surrendered a water bottle to security at the Miami airport.
The bottle had a compartment that contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana," the police report said.
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