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Super Bowl XLV
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) Vs. Green Bay Packers (NFC)

The Story…
These two teams epitomise the blue collar roots of the National Football League: they are tough, gritty, resourceful teams, each with an army of fans that would be the envy of many newer, less storied franchises.

Between them they have amassed a glorious nine Lombardi Trophies, with the Packers winning Super Bowls I and II (before the title was given to what was then the NFC, AFC championship game), and the Steelers have a league-best six, winning back-to-back Super Bowls twice (1974/75 and 1978/79), and two of the last five (2005 and 2008).

Most of the Steelers players have at least one ring, some have two. Only one Packer can boast such an accolade and, ironically enough, John Kuhn won his ring as a member of the Steelers when signed to their practice squad. He has since become something of a cult figure in Wisconsin and hopes his team will help him level the score with his former club mates.

The Packers franchise is so steeped in NFL history, the trophy being contested on Sunday is named after their coach; the Steelers have twice as many Super Bowls as their opponents and hail from a city that takes football more seriously than most.

There are no booby teams in this year’s big game; no surprise runs or first time appearance as we’ve seen in the past two Super Bowls with the Cardinals and Saints making it to the last day of the season.

This is a classic match-up, between two classic teams.

A game for the ages if ever there was one…


Prediction…

Although coming into this contest as the bookies’ underdog, the Steelers have enjoyed too much success in the Super Bowl too recently for them to be considered outsiders. The Packers have not been to the big game since ’97, when Brett Favre led his team over the Patriots for their third crown. I backed the Pack at the start of the season, but this Pittsburgh team’s composure has given me some food for thought.

The way I see it, the defences are relatively even, with Green Bay edging it on takeaways, and Pittsburgh winning the yardage battle. Green Bay’s offence is superior…when it clicks. On occasion, against tough defensive units, their finesse style of play has not been able to flourish, which means we could be in for a low-scoring affair. That said, the defence’s opportunism does leave them open to the big play and it is quite possible we could have a shootout on our hands if the Packers offense clicks and their young, vital D gets the bends.

So in spite of my belief this could be one of two very different games, I’m going to plump for what we all want to see: a shootout with both teams coming close to thirty points in a very quick game that sees power running and precision passing from Pittsburgh, and gaudy numbers for Green Bay’s Rodgers and a TD for their D.

Final score:
Green Bay 38 – 30 Pittsburgh


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