Superbowl Review...

Super Bowl XLV

Recap…
Well, it actually happened; the Lombardi trophy is on its way home. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers fulfilled my dual predictions of champ and MVP and Hines Ward, a one-time Super Bowl MVP himself, performed admirably by snaring me another betting success by being the first Pittsburgh player to score a Touchdown.

Crowing aside, this really was a magnificent contest. The Packers, who were the more electric and protective of the two, capitalised on back-to-back Touchdowns in the first quarter, to leap out to a 14 point lead that had burgeoned to 18 midway through the second quarter.

The Steelers’ vaunted 2 minute offence worked wonders at the end of the first half, and added a touchdown to their earlier field goal to close the gap to 11. Going into halftime with the momentum in their favour, Steelers fans could have been forgiven for thinking they were about to mount a comeback to top their last-gasp victory over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII.

I too – a man who called the Packers on August 22nd last year – was, for the first time, doubtful. More than that, I was positively sure Pittsburgh would win the second half, and just prayed that the Packers had at least a 7 point lead if Pittsburgh had the ball within the final two minutes.

They didn’t.

By the time the two minute warning came around, the Steelers – having, at one point, been within 3 – were back within 6: one touchdown needed for the win. The Steelers looked like they meant business as they trotted onto the field, led by Big Ben Roethlisberger – dubbed this week by the press as an unpopular winner (unpopular to all outside of Pittsburgh, maybe). Ben had been patchy all night and in the postgame interview, placed the blame for his team’s loss on his own shoulders. That said, the two-time Super Bowl winner, was not awful, but did throw two costly interceptions – one in the first quarter that went first to Nick Collins and secondly to the endzone for 7, and another that the Packers offence turned into 7 thanks to one of Greg Jennings two touchdowns.

Aside from those mistakes, Ben had a good game, with two TD tosses and 264 yards to boot. But it was the turnover battle that sealed the win for the Packers: in addition to the two picks, the Packers got the ball back on a Rashard Mendenhall fumble, which was a cruel mistake for the young running back, whose solid groundwork gave the Steelers constant hope.

Most notably for me, this Super Bowl was an aerial affair. Together, the teams racked up a puny 150 yards rushing (90 to the normally run-first Steelers, and an almost unbelievably slim 60 to the high-fling men from Wisconsin). It has been, for many years, a common mantra of those in the know that to win championships a team needs to take a strong defence and a reliable running game into the playoffs. But no longer does this seem to be the case.

In a sport that thrives on the analysis of trends, this is perhaps one of the most telling of the modern game. The NFL is an ever evolving, intransient beast, with few styles and schemes transcending the ages.

Passing is more attractive (when it works), but it is risky and prone to failure in certain whether conditions. In fact, it is the likelihood of encountering inclement weather in the postseason that has made the running game so essential, so why, and how is it that passing has come to the fore?

Prior to the revolutionary passing systems of Don Coryell’s chargers in the 1970s, the NFL and all other strata of football were heavily dominated by great running plays and great running backs. Coryell changed the face of pro-football to such an extent, his continued exclusion from the Hall of Fame has been labelled a disgrace by many and confusing by most everyone else.

‘Air Coryell’, as those Chargers were dubbed, were popular because of the excitement generated by a passing attack, and the rapidity with which scores could come, even from apparently broken plays. But aesthetics aside, pass-heavy strategies worked well against bunched defensive fronts stacked up against the run, leaving the receiver (the man in the know) in a favourable match-up with his defensive counterpart.

Here’s the rub, though: the Chargers never won a Super Bowl, because the passing system didn’t work in the post season quite as well as it did through the autumn.

Nowadays, though, the quality of NFL stadia is such that the ground underfoot remains solid (an absolute necessity for sharp cuts) and many arenas are either permanently roofed or possess a retractable option that can be called upon should the weather impact the ‘quality’ of the game.

Although I am a pass-fiend, I would side with purists, who lament the league’s favorance of throwing at the expense of old school, smash mouth football, but that only from a nostalgic point of view. In every other way the new-look NFL is better. Having its roots in Rugby and Soccer, football’s evolution over the years has made it decidedly different, but never more so than today.

With the two forward pass rule in place and the evermore complex offence and defensive strategies, we are experiencing a golden age of the game, and there are no better champions and ambassadors for the sport than the modern day incarnation of the team whose coach will forever be remembered in the naming of the NFL’s greatest prize, the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Well done Packers!


Pick up THE HARE newspaper at Night and Day, Bar Centro, Font or Tiger Lounge in Manchester town centre, or the Oakwood in Glossop.

E-mail theharenewspaper@hotmail.co.uk with questions, comments or contributory pieces.