Super Bowl XLV: North Meets South
When you think Pittsburgh Steelers, you think “between the tackles,” smash mouth football.
You think Rashard Mendenhall, the powerful back who would rather take the hit head-on than dodge around it . You think hard-hitting, unforgiving linebackers, whose primary objective (aside from winning the game, of course) is to make sure the quarterback walks off the field in much worse shape than he walked on it. You think Big Ben Roethlisberger, whom one might mistake for a rare watch collector the way he buys time in the pocket, scrambling and scrambling until he and his receiver of choice are the only ones standing.
When you think of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you think cold weather football.
When you think of the 2010 Green Bay Packers, you think of long, blond hair. No, not the cheerleaders, but rather the Packers pair of freakish, “golden boy” linebackers, A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews, the latter who was fourth in the NFL with 13.5 sacks. You think of Green Bay’s pair of shutdown corners, Charles Woodson (2009 N.F.L. Defensive Player of the Year) and Travon Williams (6 INT). You think of fearless WR Donald Driver, who consistently beats father time at his own game, the NFL, where a 30th birthday is comparable to a funeral, let alone a 36th birthday, which Driver will celebrate four days before Super Bowl XL. You think of QB Aaron Rodgers, with his precision passing and leadership skills that have propelled the Packers to three straight road victories and an improbable path to NFC champions.
When you think of the Green Bay Packers, you think toughness. But most of all, when you think Green Bay, you think “frigid weather” football.
So it only makes sense that the projected temperature for Super Bowl XLV is…..58 degrees?!?
The game will take place in Arlington, TX, at exquisite Cowboys Stadium. The stadium holds 110,000 and the festivities surrounding the sporting event of the year Sunday night promise to be, as is only appropriate for the state in which they will occur, bigger and better than in past years.
The Packers look to cap a stunning postseason run, in which they were the lowest seed in the tournament, but defeated the Eagles in the wild card round, the Falcons in the Divisional round and rival Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship, with all three wins coming on the road.
The Steelers look to make it a second Super Bowl championship in three seasons, having defeated the Cardinals in ‘08, in Super Bowl XLIII.
It has been a tale of two halves for Pittsburgh the past two weeks, having erased a 21-7 halftime deficit to come back and defeat the Ravens 31-24 in the Divisional Round, then jumping out to a 24-0 lead before holding off a furious rally by the Jets to defeat New York 24-19 in the AFC Championship.
MY PREDICTION:
Aaron Rodgers will again rise to the challenge, but the Steelers’ suffocating run defense (ranked first in the league) will make the Packers’ “RB by committee” rushing attack non-existent, turning Green Bay into a one-dimensional offense. Look for Rodgers to toss a late pick in a tight one, putting the Steelers over the top, 24-17.
