So what if the weather will be frigid come Super Bowl Sunday? This is the kind of weather that Pittsburgh and Green Bay play in anyways; cold climate, y'know football weather. So both these teams will be just fine.
The bigger storyline here of course is the showdown between two of the oldest franchises in the NFL. In one corner, we've got Green Bay; the team that set the pace in 60's, winning the first two Super Bowls and earning the monicker "Title Town, USA". Don't forget that the trophy is named after their legendary coach. In the other corner, we've got Pittsburgh; a franchise that had only 3 winning seasons in their first 4 decades, until their fortunes turned for the better in the 70's (headlined by the famous "Steel Curtain" defense).
In 2009, Green Bay and Pittsburgh faced off in a classic showdown, highlighted by a 35 point 4th quarter. And to think that these were supposed to be defensive teams. With no time left as he took the snap, Big Ben threw a pass to the left corner of the endzone that was caught by Mike Wallace for a 19 yard touchdown; giving the Steelers a 37-36 win. Pittsburgh, the defending Super Bowl champs, had lost five straight games and would have certainly been knocked out of playoff contention had they lost that game.
So if that game is any indication, then the Super Bowl might be anything but a defensive struggle. It's like it happens all the time; when two defensive teams play each other, it tends to end in a high scoring affair. When two high scoring teams play each other, it turns out to be a defensive affair. Of course, they usually more often than not live up to the hype.
Pittsburgh is playing in a record-tying 8th Super Bowl (matching Dallas record of Super Bowl appearances, the irony). Their all-time record stands at 6-1, the only loss coming to Dallas is Super Bowl 30 (more irony). I can understand why most people are picking them to take home a record 7th trophy. Judging by their record, they know what to do when they get on the big stage.
Green Bay are playing in their 5th Super Bowl, and their first since the Brett Favre era. They have a 3-1 record, their only loss coming to Denver in Super Bowl XXXII. Not a bad record really, but the Packers history since the 60's is broken down in two ways; The Lombardi Era and the Post Lombardi Era. Green Bay need this win to "validate" any claims that they can't "move on" after Brett Favre's departure.
The way I see it, Aaron Rodgers will have to commit "zero to none" errors if Green Bay is to win the game. I say this because Pittsburgh are slightly better suited to not only overcome Big Ben's errors (or any offensive errors for that matter), but they have come from behind to win on more than one occasion. Case in point, during the Divisional round against Baltimore, Steelers overcame a 21-7 deficit at the half to win 31-24. Also in Super Bowl XLIII against Arizona, Big Ben led the game winning drive that started from his own endzone.
While Polamalu, even though not at 100%, will still demand attention, you've still have to worry about LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison; guys who are just disruptive anytime the ball is snapped. When Pittsburgh has the ball, you've got pay attention to Clay Matthews, B.J. Raji and Charles Woodson (who's very good in covering the run and blitzing the QB).
It's not easy to pick a winner, but Pittsburgh has the edge just because of their ability to clamp down on defense and also rally from behind. Green Bay's best shot would be to keep Big Ben in the pocket and deny him any room to run/improvise, because he's proven to be very dangerous when allowed to do so.
In their last meeting, it came to the last play in the last second. I wouldn't be expecting any different this time around.
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