As the Colts chase a Super Bowl title, Indianapolis is pursuing another prize: the chance to host the NFL's title game. Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, Gov. Mitch Daniels and other business and community leaders planned a news conference Wednesday to discuss the city's proposed bid for the 2011 Super Bowl. The city has until April 2 to submit a bid. The process includes securing 27,000 hotel rooms, finding locations for dozens of events and outlining how it would accommodate fans and media attending.

Tank Johnson was not given a podium on Media Day. That did not prevent a horde of reporters and photographers from surrounding the defensive tackle of the Chicago Bears who awaits trial on gun possession charges.

Tony Dungy was ready to get to work in South Florida, even if Indianapolis had one less day to do it. Arriving a day after the Chicago Bears, and later than most recent Super Bowl teams, Dungy explained Indianapolis' delayed arrival as wanting to make this as normal a week as possible.

Coach Lovie Smith thumbed through the Colts press guide on a three-hour flight that delivered the Bears from the cold of Chicago to the warm comfort of Florida -- a trip that landed them back at the Super Bowl. "I looked at 18 pages of Peyton Manning," Smith said Sunday night, about two hours after the Bears touched down at Miami International Airport.

Peyton Manning's injured right thumb gave the Colts a scare Monday. Fortunately, for Indianapolis, that's all it was. Manning bruised the thumb on his throwing hand late in the AFC championship game, but X-rays found no broken bones and he's expected to start against Chicago in the Super Bowl, Colts owner Jim Irsay told The Associated Press on Monday night. "There's no concerns with that at all," Irsay said. "He's fine. I talked to the trainer about it earlier, and I know that's the case."

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was scheduled to have X-rays on his injured right thumb, although Indianapolis doesn't believe it will affect his status for the Super Bowl against Chicago on Feb. 4. Manning hit the thumb on his throwing hand on the helmet of left tackle Tarik Glenn late in the Colts' 38-34 victory over New England in the AFC championship. Coach Tony Dungy said the thumb was discolored after the game and that Manning was hurting. "But from everything I hear, it's going to be OK," Dungy said.

Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy will forever be connected. Together they are the first black coaches to make the Super Bowl. Smith and the Bears and Dungy and the Colts will meet in Super Bowl XLI at Miami on February 4.

After rallying for a spectacular win and the AFC championship, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are big favorites to win the Super Bowl over the Chicago Bears. Manning's Colts are as much 7-point favorites with most Las Vegas bookmakers after a 38-34 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The Indianapolis Colts won the AFC championship, scoring 32 second-half points to defeat the New England Patriots, 38-34. The Colts' comeback was the largest in NFL playoff history. The Colts will face the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 4, in Miami.

Peyton Manning knew that he would have to beat Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to get to the Super Bowl. The Saints would like the best season in their franchise history to end with a trip to the Super Bowl. For the third time in the last four years, Manning and the Colts will face Brady and the Patriots in the playoffs. The meeting takes place in the AFC championship game for the second time on Sunday.