The best Sunday of the year is 10 days away.
The day that requires most pizza and beer than any other one along the year.
The day that generates the most TV sales than any other day during the year.
The 20 minutes where people flush the toilets the most is almost here.
Damn right! It’s almost Super Bowl Sunday!!!
We’ve got two of the most storied franchises in NFL history.
On one hand the Green Bay (it’s only like my favorite bay, Friends reference go to 1:15) Packers are a synonym of championships (NFL Titles and Super Bowls), heck they won with Lombardi the 1st edition of the Super Bowl, they had great years, the had glory years with Favre, Freeman, Mason, etc. Now they got a young coach in Mike McCarthy who has don a great job and got a good group of assistants. A awesome Defensive Coordinator in Don Capers who is just a defensive mastermind to go along with stars like Clay Matthews, AJ Hawk, Charles Woodson, BJ Raji, and Nick Barnett (although he went on IR mid-season); most people won’t like this, but I think the Packers D is just a tad better that the Steelers unit. Oh, and not to be forgotten, one of the premier (whether you like it or not) quarterbacks in the NFL. A well rounded, solid, entertaining football team.
On the other one we have the team that has won the most rings in history, one of the truly well run franchises in the NFL, the Rooneys are the most well talked about owners, they have a huge fanbase in and out of Pittsburgh and have put a pretty darn solid team on the field. Never have been a fan of Mike Tomlin (I think he has not done enough to get the defense younger, still solid and great now but they haven´t prepared for the future). Big Ben has had some off-field issues but still puts up solid numbers, not MVP numbers but finds a way to win which is what counts (cough cough Tom Brady the last 3 years). And the defense, has been and still is THE staple of this team. I’m not a big fan of Steelers games, I don’t find them very fun to watch but you can´t argue with results.
Most betting sites have the Packers 2.5 point favorites with a 44.5 over/under. I’ve been pretty good picking teams these playoffs, I think I’m 8 for 10 or something like that. But this is a really tough call to make; I find the Packers a more solid team but just can’t go against Big Ben in big games, he just finds a way to win. Most of the players on the rosters will be healthy come game time, the only big doubt is Pittsburgh’s center who got injured in the AFC Championship; as of yesterday he was wearing a walking boot and was not being considered for the game, this could be a big hit for Pitt as we saw what happened on the safety -you are losing that security along with the good blocking of the starter – we’ll see how that plays out in the next week.
Putting the on-field action aside for a moment, you know the presentation of the game will be something to watch. Jerry Jones wants to make this the biggest Super Bowl ever so he will go to every extreme to guarantee that. The stadium itself is a site to behold (was there for the Chargers-Cowboys game last December), the screen is awe-inspiring, just an awesome place to watch the game. The Halftime Show with the Black Eyed Peas is gonna be a good good one (catch the drift), good music, a great stage, lighting, the whole ambiance is gonna be great and ensured to give people the time of their life (subtle right). It has to be good as this is one of the things that attracts non-football fans (along with the commercial breaks, which I don’t care for as I used the time for bathroom breaks, getting another beer o some more pizza).
Back to the main topic. I can’t say I’m not biased towards Green Bay; as a kid they were my second favorite team (behind my local Chargers) I had the chance to be a part of the Super Bowl XXXII (where Denver beat the Packers and Elway had that infamous run and flip) festivities, parties, NFL Experience and I have to say I was pulling for the Packers while wearing my Cheese-Head which I still have today; I also find interesting how the ownership the Packers work, they are basically a publicly owned team. With all that being say, here’s my prediction (for now and pending any injuries, off-field stuff and any thing else that can happen -basically a disclaimer that means I can change my pick between now and February 6 at 630pm EST-):
Packers 27 – Steelers 23
I see the Packers starting out strong, the Steelers having to come back from behing. Pitt needs to pressure and hit Rodgers; you saw what the hit by Peppers did to him (by the way Peppers was fined by the NFL more on that here), he got clobbered and was not the same the rest of the game. I see Ben having an average game and not a 503 yard performance like the one he had last year against the Packers (which Pitt won on a last second score), they need to try and establish the run from the beginning as Play-Action passes are a big part of their offense -same goes for Green Bay.
Tight game where Green Bay goes up by 10, Steelers get a FG to get withing 7 points but don’t get another chance to tie it up.
And to stay totally unbiased, GO PACKERS!
MrKhakbaz out!
The Playpen 