NO HORSING AROUND: COLTS CAPTURE TITLE MANNING, INDY SHAKE OFF BAD PLAYOFF MEMORIES WITH VICTORY.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK Staff Writer

MIAMI -- He was so calm afterward, standing there like he had just come back from another day of practice, and not like a man who had just shed the largest shadow of his career.

Peyton Manning will never have to hear it again, will never have to worry about being compared to the great NFL players who never won a title, will never again hear his praises sung, only to be followed by the inevitable ``but ...''

Manning and his Indianapolis Colts are Super Bowl champions now, their 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on a very wet Sunday night in South Florida finally adding the exclamation point to their team, to his career.

The word everyone kept throwing at him afterward was ``validation,'' but Manning would have none of it.

``I don't play that game,'' he said. ``I don't play that card.

``It sure is nice to be on this championship team. I put a lot of hard work into it, but I know our team did too. We truly got here as a team.''

It was true, too, the Colts winning in a way that might have surprised many: With a highly effective passing attack, but also with the game's best rushing attack. With a defense that frustrated and consistently thwarted the Bears.

``This may not be the most talented team we've had in the last five years, but it has the most love, is the most connected, and it showed with the way we played,'' Indianapolis head coach Tony Dungy said.

Dungy, of course, had his own personal reason for satisfaction, becoming the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl.

That he had to beat his good friend, Bears coach Lovie Smith, who is also black, might have felt partly bittersweet, but the moment was hardly lost on Dungy.

``I was thinking as I stood on the field before the trophy presentation, it felt good to be able to represent those who came before and never got this chance and paved the way for me,'' he said.

It rained the entire game and did not always make for the prettiest football, though it did add a consistent unexpected element.

The ball was turned over six times in the first half and the Colts blew the hold on a PAT. Balls and players took turns slipping. At times the rain was heavy; others a solid drizzle.

The Bears ended up turning the ball over five times. A simple snap became a challenge.

``We are very disappointed,'' Smith said. ``When you turn the ball over as much as we did, it's really hard to win.

``We got off to a great start and had an eight-point lead ... but the turnovers really did us in.''

The Bears opened the game with an electrifying 92-yard kickoff return by rookie sensation Devin Hester. It was the first time an opening Super Bowl kickoff had been returned for a touchdown.

The Colts answered when Manning, in the grasp of Chicago defensive tackle Tank Johnson, spotted a wide-open Reggie Wayne. Taking advantage of blown coverage, Wayne easily took in the strike for a 53-yard touchdown.

Holder Hunter Smith dropped the snap on the PAT, and it remained a 7-6 Chicago lead.

A 52-yard rush up the middle by Thomas Jones set up a 4-yard pass by Rex Grossman to Muhsin Muhammad to give the Bears a 14-6 lead, but their evening had just peaked.

The Colts had overcome a 21-3 New England lead in the AFC title game. This was a mere bump in the road.

``I think the season prepared us for this,'' Dungy said. ``The game two weeks ago against New England set the stage for this game.''

Turnovers and the Colts' ability to move the ball turned time of possession into a major Chicago enemy.

The Chicago defense seemed on the field all the time, and with its safeties consistently playing deep, Manning consistently eschewed his wideouts and found running back Joseph Addai and tight end Dallas Clark underneath.

The Colts' inability to find the end zone was the only thing that kept the Bears in the game.

Grossman will no doubt be chased into the offseason by reborn cries he is not the quarterback to take the Bears to the title.

He finished 20 of 28 for 165 yards and one touchdown, but had two huge interceptions and a pair of fumbles -- one that he lost to the Colts.

The first interception was returned for a 56-yard touchdown by Kelvin Hayden early in the fourth quarter to make it 29-17.

The second came on the Bears' ensuing drive and ended any remaining suspense.

``The last interception got away from me,'' Grossman said. ``It needed to be about 10yards deeper.''

Manning was named the game's MVP, completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards and one touchdown.

He was in control of the game, though the MVP could just have easily gone to Addai, who caught 10 passes for 66 yards and rushed 19 times for 77 more yards.

Afterward, Manning met with the media, seeming more relieved than elated.

``It's all happening pretty fast right now,'' he said. ``This is just kind of how I am, I guess. I'm excited. I'm proud to be on this team.

``I think this is just something we'll enjoy for quite a while.''

There was a certain validation, of course, even if Manning and Dungy would have none of it.

``Maybe some people have felt he wasn't good enough until he won a Super Bowl,'' Dungy said of Manning.

``We never felt that way. He's a tremendous leader. He does everything you could ask of a leader.

``I don't think he had to win to validate his greatness to some people. But now I don't think there's anything else you can say about him, other than he'll be in the Hall of Fame.''

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) PEY-DIRT

Peyton Manning and the Colts overcome the Bears and wet, sloppy conditions to win Super Bowl XLI 

Jeff haynes/Getty Images

(2 -- color) Indianapolis' Joseph Addai tries to get past Brian Urlacher and the rest of the Chicago Bears defense. Addai finished with 77 yards rushing and 66 yards receiving.

(3 -- color) As if the rain pouring down at Dolphin Stadium weren't enough, Colts coach Tony Dungy enjoys a Gatorade shower as Indianapolis defeats Chicago in the Super Bowl.

David Duprey/Associated Press

(4 -- color) Indianapolis' Peyton Manning scrambles away from Chicago's Tank Johnson and throws a touchdown to Reggie Wayne.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images