NFL Betting – Super Bowl Roundup
Clap, clap, clap.
I’m not just applauding the Packers. I’m applauding the Super Bowl in general. Arguably for the fourth straight year, it delivered a naillbiter of a game. Giants/Patriots? Steelers/Cardinals? Saints/Colts? Now Packers/Steelers? Can you think of another major pro sport that delivers championship battles that close year in, year out?
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Packers 31, Steelers 25
If you read my pick for this game, you’ll know I expected the Packers to win. I didn’t, however, expect them to fly out to a 14-0 lead.
Weren’t the Pack supposed to be jittery as the team playing yesterday that hadn’t won two of the previous five Super Bowls? Instead, they were calm and poised early on. Aaron Rodgers made sharp throws and the Packers’ secondary came up huge against Ben Roethlisberger, who took a hit as he threw in the second quarter to set up a brilliant pick-six runback by Nick Collins.
I credit a subtle decision for Green Bay’s solid start: the coin toss. The Packers chose to kick off. It took away the pressure of turning over the ball or going three and out on their first drive. Instead, the “D” took over and ran on pure adrenaline. By the time Rodgers and the offense got the ball, they were settled into the flow of the game. They didn’t score on their first possession but they didn’t do anything dumb, either.
Once the score hit 21-3, no one panicked. We and the Steelers knew Pittsburgh came back from 21-3 to beat Baltimore. Then, disaster struck Green Bay. On back-to-back plays in the second quarter, corners Charles Woodson and Sam Shields went down with injuries. Shields later returned but the Pro Bowler Woodson didn’t. 
With the score 21-10 to start the second half, the Packers looked like a different team. They were like scared children. Once the Steelers narrowed the score to 21-17, Green Bay’s body language looked like it was losing by two touchdowns.
At this juncture, the onus fell on two key components for the Packers to hang on and win Super Bowl XLV. Aaron Rodgers had to overcome some bad drops by his receivers and move the ball. Clay Matthews and the interior defense had to penetrate to stop Rashard Mendenhall and get some hits on Roethlisberger so he wouldn’t have too much time to exploit the Pack’s banged-up secondary.
Low and behold, Green Bay delivered. Did you see the sound bite of Kevin Greene telling Clay Matthews to step it up? Moments later, Matthews changed the game by forcing a Mendenhall fumble. With the ball back, Aaron Rodgers answered. He connected with Greg Jennings for his third touchdown pass of the day. For the third time in the game, the pack scored a touchdown directly off a turnover.
The Steelers made it interesting but the Pack held on. The keys to their victory were more or less what bettors expected to be the keys. Rodgers stepped up and delivered against an overrated Steeler pass “D,” going 24 of 39 for 304 yards and three touchdowns en route to MVP honors. Rather than try to run early and risk falling behind, the Pack went extremely pass-heavy with their playcalling, going after the Steelers’ weakness. And, finally, when the secondary got banged up, Green Bay penetrated Pittsburgh’s patchwork O-line and got the key hits on D when they absolutely needed them.
Green Bay finished the year by beating the Giants, Bears, Eagles, Falcons, Bears and Steelers in sequence. Any team that goes on a run like that is a deserving Super Bowl XLV champ.
Hope you enjoyed your NFL betting season and good luck next year!
