Threat of Hester has Dungy worried

Jan/23/07 08:15 AM Filed in: Devin Hester
INDIANAPOLIS -- New England has what might be the NFL's premier return game, and it forced the Indianapolis Colts to labor in Sunday's AFC championship victory.

Ellis Hobbs returned six kickoffs for 220 yards, a record for a conference title game. He set up a touchdown with an 80-yard runback and triggered a field-goal drive with a 41-yard return.

When the Colts meet the Bears in Super Bowl XLI, the challenge will be Devin Hester.

"We covered pretty well for the most part, and then we let those two [Hobbs returns] get out," Colts coach Tony Dungy said.

"With a guy like Devin Hester, that can be catastrophic.

"That's a big part of what they do and how they're built. They get field position with their defense, they get field position with their return game and they've got an offense that really takes advantage of good field position. That's going to be critical."

Hester set an NFL record with six touchdown returns in the regular season: two on kickoffs, three on punts and one on a missed field goal.

(chicagosports.chicagotribune.com)