TE Clark enjoying the Colts' postseason ride

Feb 1, 2007 - 6:16 PM By John Pezzullo PA SportsTicker Pro Football Editor

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne could become the third straight wide receiver to win a Super Bowl MVP award. But tight end Dallas Clark has been Peyton Manning's favorite target in the postseason.

Clark has 17 catches for 281 yards in the Indianapolis Colts' three playoff wins en route to Super Bowl XLI. The Pro Bowl tandem of Harrison and Wayne has combined for 289 receiving yards.

"It's enjoyable running out there with Marv and Reggie," Clark said. "I really like that better than just blocking all day."

The absence of an effective third receiver due to injuries to Brandon Stokley (knee) and Ricky Proehl (hamstring) has forced the Colts to use Clark in that role at times with Ben Utecht and Bryan Fletcher lining up as tight ends.

"That's fine with me," Clark said. "If they asked me to down block on defensive ends all day like some teams, well I can't do that very well. But if they let me run and catch balls and block here and there and run as the slot receiver as well, I love it."

Clark caught nine passes for 103 yards in the wild card round win over Kansas City. After being limited to two catches for 41 yards by Baltimore, Clark caught six passes for a career-high 137 yards in the AFC championship game against New England.

"Dallas gives us the luxury of using him in a three-wide receiver type game or a double-tight end game," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "He's not what you would call a protypical tight end because he's not a big guy. But he can get down the middle of the field and catch the ball deep."

Clark is listed at 6-3, 252 pounds, but that's even disputed by his own coach.

"Yeh, that's generous. Maybe he's 240," Dungy said. "But we're probably not going to have the 260-pound tight ends a lot of teams have because we look for guys that can get down the middle of the field."

A first-round pick in 2003, Clark had never caught more than 37 passes in a season. Yet he nearly has half that total in Indianapolis' playoff run.

This season, Clark missed four games with a sprained knee ligament and finished with 30 catches for 367 yards and four touchdowns. But Clark believes the injury was a blessing in disguise.

"I felt like after the layoff I was refreshed and had an extra bounce in my step," Clark said.

But the Chicago Bears will be out to derail Clark's postseason ride. Taking away the pass to Clark in the middle of the field will be a major part of the Bears' strategy on Sunday.

"They move Dallas around because of his ability as a receiver," Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said. "One of the things that we stress is recognizing formations and we have to recognize where Dallas is and play accordingly."

The Bears are not a blitzing team. That should not change in the Super Bowl. They will rely on defensive ends Adewale Ogunleye, Mark Anderson and Alex Brown to pressure Manning and drop their linebackers in pass coverage.

The reason why Pro Bowl linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs have combined for one sack this season is they never blitz. So the Bears will use the speed of their linebackers to cover Clark, the other tight ends and running backs Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes in pass patterns.

"I'm the guy who runs down the middle and I know he (Clark) has caught a lot of passes down the middle of the field in the playoffs," Urlacher said. "So there will be situations where I'll be on him and our outside guys (linebackers) will be on him as well."

Urlacher and Briggs have combined for five interceptions this season.

"They're really good, fast and athletic," Clark said of the Bears' Pro Bowl linebackers. "Urlacher is sideline-to-sideline. It's something you can't practice against because he's a special player. You watch film on him and he makes plays non-stop."

So if the linebackers - Urlacher, Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer - succeed in covering Clark, that will allow the nickel back Ricky Manning Jr. and the free safety Danieal Manning to help double cover Harrison and Wayne.

That would ease the burden on cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher and make getting open more difficult for Harrison and Wayne, who hope to follow wide receivers Deion Branch of New England and Hines Ward of Pittsburgh as Super Bowl MVPs.