(02-04) 19:06 PST MIAMI (AP) --
A wet and wild Super Bowl, the winning conditions for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. A team built for indoors found its footing on a rain-soaked track and outplayed the Chicago Bears to win the NFL title 29-17 Sunday.
The Colts were far less sloppy, particularly their star quarterback, who proved he can indeed win the big game — the biggest game.
That's what it was for Tony Dungy, too. He became the first black coach to win the championship, beating good friend and protege Lovie Smith in a game that featured two black coaches for the first time in Super Bowl history.
It was a game of firsts: the first rainy Super Bowl and the first time an opening kickoff was run back for a touchdown when sensational Bears rookie Devin Hester sped downfield for 92 yards.
And not since the Buffalo Bills self-destructed with nine turnovers in losing to Dallas 14 years ago had there been so much messiness. The first half was marred by six turnovers, three for each team. Even football's most clutch kicker, Adam Vinatieri, missed a chip-shot field goal, and an extra point attempt was botched, too.
The second half wasn't quite so ugly, but when much-maligned Bears quarterback Rex Grossman's wobbler was picked off and returned 56 yards for a touchdown by Kelvin Hayden with 11:44 remaining, it was over.
Chicago (15-4), which led the league in takeaways this season, finished with five turnovers, including two interceptions by Grossman.
The Colts (16-4) will take it. It's their first title since the 1970 season, when they played in Baltimore.
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/02/04/sports/s185810S69.DTL