Super Bowl Shuffle
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| Mike Neri - 1/29/2011 8:16 AM |
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Super Bowl Shuffle by Mike Neri The Super Bowl may be in Texas, but someone will be a new champion in Titletown! Green Bay will be trying to win its 13th NFL championship and its fourth Super Bowl, while the Steelers will be going for their 7th title and third over the last six years. The Packers (13-6 SU/12-7 ATS) have a dynamite passing offense behind 26-year old QB Aaron Rodgers (34 TDs, 13 INTs) and an outstanding defense, one that swallowed up the favored Eagles, a 21-16 Green Bay win, destroyed the No. 1 seeded Falcons (48-21) then held on to win at Chicago, 21-14, despite dominating most of the game. So they are 3-0 SU/ATS in the postseason, winning twice as a dog. The Bears' defense as coordinated by Rod Marinelli tries to confuse opponents, and after falling behind 14-0 early on Sunday, the Packers never scored again. "The biggest thing they do is disguise their coverages," one scout said. "That's the No. 1 thing they've done this year." That's something they will see again, as the Steelers love to disguise what they're doing and throw zone-blitzes at the opposition. The Packers like to hold the play clock. When Aaron Rodgers passes, it often goes down to 3, 4, 5 seconds left. In the run game, you want to go on quick counts as that will get the defense out of their disguise, but the Packers don't have much of a ground game (24th in the NFL) and they should struggle badly against this dominant Pittsburgh defensive front that is No. 1 in run defense, allowing a ridiculous 62.8 yards per game. Rodgers threw interceptions on 2.3 percent of his passes, which was 10th best in the NFL. Rodgers can also hurt defenses with his feet by buying extra time and making throws or by running. Rodgers ran for 356 yards during the season and averaged 5.6 yards per carry. Rodgers has been in the same system for all six years of his career, and he has thrown thousands of balls to his receivers over a long period of time. Rodgers' 50 sacks led the league last year, but they cut down on that dramatically, which was of prime importance coming into the season. They have one game left, but have their toughest challenge yet as the Steelers are masters at bringing pressure. The Packers have a pair of shutdown corners and a great group of linebackers, led by Clay Matthews. Green Bay was 6-5 SU, 7-4 ATS on the road (7-4 under the total away). The Packers became the first No. 6-seeded team in the NFC to advance to the Super Bowl since the league went to a 12-team playoff format in 1990. The Steelers did it in the AFC in 2005. Green Bay was just 2 of 11 on third down against the Bears and faces a better defense this time. The Steelers (14-4 SU/12-6 ATS) have great balance on offense with QB Ben Roethlisberger (19 TDs, 5 INTs) and a ground game (120 yards pg) that ranked 11th in the NFL behind RB Rashard Mendenhall (1,273 yards, 3.9 ypc). Mendenhall was a huge factor in the AFC Championship game, killing the Jets on the ground and even catching passes. He has to be considered an X factor for this game, as both teams can throw the football, but only Pittsburgh has a strong, reliable ground game. The Jets' defense sacked Tom Brady five times and also got the first interception of the Patriots quarterback in 340 pass attempts, but was taken apart by the Steelers balanced attack. The Steelers have 33 playoff victories, tying the Cowboys' NFL record.?Roethlisberger is 10-2 in career playoff starts and has two Super Bowl championships. This Super Bowl is no fluke -- the Steelers and Packers are loaded with talent and deserve to be here, which should mean an exciting game. If you don't think so, just picture what a Jets/Bears Super Bowl would have been like! |
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