NFL: JUST HOW SUPER ARE THE COLTS? REPEATING WILL BE A CHORE FOR INDY.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK Staff Writer

MIAMI -- They wrung their jerseys, partied through the night, boarded their charter, headed back to drier climates and then prepared to answer the inevitable question:

What have you done lately?

The Indianapolis Colts rule the world of professional football after surviving the rain and the Chicago Bears on Sunday, 29-17, in Super Bowl XLI.

The Colts thought winning their first Super Bowl since packing up the trucks and sneaking out of Baltimore on a snowy night in 1984 was tough, but now comes the really challenging part: repeating.

That's far from a lock, though hardly unprecedented. Eight different times a Super Bowl champion has returned the next season to reclaim the championship, most recently New England (2004-05).

``It's difficult to repeat in this league,'' said Colts coach Tony Dungy. ``It's so competitive that any little slippage is not going to allow you to get back to the top.

``What New England did, we have a lot of respect for. We know how tough it is to get here, but to get here and continually get here, takes something special.''

Which begs the question: How special are the Colts?

``I think we have special guys,'' Dungy said. ``We're going to talk about the challenge of repeating and what it's going to take, that we're going to have to play better.''

Chances are, they will have to play better. Perhaps much better.

No one was ready to rate the Colts' squeaky performance over the Bears as one of the greats in Super Bowl history. Probably not even in the top 20.

Indianapolis proved it is much more than just quarterback Peyton Manning, as the Colts' offensive line controlled the Bears' heralded defense, giving their running backs consistent holes, and the defense continually stepped up in the poor weather.

Yet the Indianapolis roster is hardly loaded with future Hall of Famers -- outside of Manning, there are no locks -- and the AFC is clearly loaded with superior teams.

New England, San Diego and Baltimore all probably could have beaten the Bears on Sunday.

The Colts controlled the game, but hardly dominated it. Despite all their offensive struggles and defensive disappointments, the Bears were still in position to come back and win, trailing only 22-17 early in the fourth quarter.

Still, the Colts proved to be much more of a team than most had given them credit for. Manning never did have that classic five-touchdown game in the postseason, and still the Colts won it all.

Certainly, there will be changes. They are an inevitable part of modern professional sports.

Indianapolis will have to make financial decisions about several free agents, including defensive end Dwight Freeney, linebacker Cato June and running back Dominic Rhodes.

Dungy, too, had hinted this season that he might head into the sunset with a victory, though at Monday's news conference he sounded like a man intent on coaching for several more years.

``Every year, probably in the last three to four years, I try to evaluate where I am at the end of every year,'' Dungy said. ``I still have a lot of passion. I'm not burned out. I'm not tired. I'm very, very fired up. I'm looking forward to coming back.''

Manning rid himself of that Dan Marino tag of great quarterback who never won the Big One with Sunday's victory, and he hardly seems the type to ease up now that he has a ring.

``I want to be accountable each and every year,'' Manning said. ``Next year, the goal is be a better quarterback. I feel I should be because of the experience I gained this year.''

In some ways, despite their disappointing performance, the mostly young Bears are almost in a better position to return to the Super Bowl.

``I don't really think that there are a whole lot of question marks hanging over this team,'' Bears tailback Thomas Jones said.

But one of their questions happens to be at the quarterback position, where Rex Grossman's performance Sunday once again sent his skeptics screaming into the night demanding change.

Backups Brian Griese and Kyle Orton could again get looks, though Chicago fans already have begun calling for the acquisition of Jeff Garcia.

Returning to the Super Bowl is never guaranteed, even for the champion. One Las Vegas line already has pegged San Diego as the favorite to reach the '08 Super Bowl.

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Peyton Manning and the Colts won't have an easy time trying to repeat as Super Bowl champs, especially in the tough AFC.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press