MIAMI – Cedric Benson’s star-crossed Bears career continued Sunday night at the Super Bowl.

Benson left the game against the Colts for good with 1 minute 33 seconds left in the first quarter after twisting his left knee at the end of a 4-yard run. He walked off the field under his own power and tested the knee on the sideline by trying to cut on it before the Bears’ training staff ruled him out.

It ended a bad night for Benson, who carried twice for minus-1 yard and lost a fumble when Colts safety Bob Sanders jarred the ball loose and Dwight Freeney recovered.

The loss changed the complexion of the Bears running game and prevented them from using the one-two punch of Benson and Thomas Jones that had been so effective in the postseason. Without Benson to wear down the Colts defensive front as he did in the NFC championship game, more pressure fell on Jones to carry the load by himself.

The extent of the injury wasn’t known and Benson has all off-season to heal. But the impact his loss has on the running game serves as a reminder how important Jones is to the Bears’ big picture. That will be a factor when trade rumors start heating up in March involving Jones, entering the final season of a contract scheduled to pay him $2.25 million.

Jones’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has a history of trying to negotiate contracts for players in the final year of their deals and nobody would be surprised if Jones wanted to do so. The Bears invested $16 million in a signing bonus for Benson in 2005 and that has led to speculation he will be the featured back next season. But a knee injury in the final game of the season might give pause to some people at Halas Hall.

Has Jones, whose 52-yard run in the first quarter Sunday was the Bears’ only big play in the first half, done enough the past two seasons to earn an extension? Can the Bears afford to risk going into next season counting heavily on Benson without Jones if concerns linger about Benson’s second knee injury in two seasons?

The Bears have two months to answer those questions. But they had no answer Sunday when they needed a power-running component to set up Jones’ shiftiness.