Who's Going to Disney World?
Today we feature Super Bowl predictions from the Intentional Foul team of experts and predictions on how many time Brett Favre will show up. Enjoy!
Cherie Burbach
5 Reasons the Packers Will Win Super Bowl 45
Aaron Rodgers
I’ll admit that when Rodgers first took over as quarterback for the Packers, I thought all the talk about him being “elite” and at the “top of league” was way too early. Now, three years later, he’s becoming the quarterback fans hoped he would be. This year he silenced critics with his three playoff wins (all on the road), which is incidentally the number Brett Favre had in his entire career. Also, in Favre’s last ten years with the Packers he only won three playoff games total, and Rodgers did that this year alone.
Packers Have Played Through Injuries
One thing that makes the Packers’ year so remarkable is that they were able to make it to the Super Bowl even with a bevy of injuries. At one point they led the league with starters on the injured reserve list. This means that the Packers second-string is stronger and less green than your average NFL team, and that individual players step up when the work needs to be done.
Clay Matthews and the Defense
Linebacker Clay Matthews has had a record year, but let’s face it, the Packers defense has been the consist force that has kept them in games. When the offense has failed to place points on the board, the defense has done their job by keeping the other teams to under 15 points per game. If they can do that again on Sunday, they’ll have this game wrapped up.
Packers Have a Running Game… Now
The Packers chose the off-season to truly get their running game going. This was important on a couple levels, one of which is that Coach Mike McCarthy didn’t give up on that part of his offensive scheme. He knew that if you have absolutely ZERO running game, you’re not going to be able to keep the defense on their toes as much as if you at least tried to have one. That’s an important distinction, because a running play you don’t see coming will fool you as a defense and cause you to give up points. The bonus is that with James Starks, the running game has become legit, which makes it even more dangerous.
They Can Play on the Road
Okay, so this season hasn’t been the 16-0 blowout that New England had a few years ago. Then again, New England lost the big game to the Giants that year, so I’m okay with that. If anything, the Packers season has forced them to step up when they needed to. All three of their playoff wins have been on the road. Some argue that the Packers had a “win or go home” mentality going into the final game of the regular season against the Bears, and they’ve maintained this attitude for the last four weeks. While the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau is still special, they will go into Dallas and win.
Anthony Louis
Going with the Steel Curtain
If you had asked me at the beginning of the football season if I thought that the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to make the Super Bowl, my answer would have been quick. No. I figured that without Ben Roethlisberger at the helm for the first six games of the season, at best the team would be 2-4 by the time he returned. Most people presumed that his suspension would be reduced to four games and it was. That the Steelers went 3-1 leading up to Roethlisberger’s return after the Pittsburgh Steelers week five bye changed my mind.
As for the Green Bay Packers, at the beginning of the season I did believe that they would make the Superbowl in a close race with the Atlanta Falcons. When the Packers lost Ryan Grant during week one of the NFL season also changed my mind. The Green Bay running game was suspect when healthy. Losing Ryan Grant led me to believe that their chances were severely diminished as a result of that loss. Combine that with some ugly early season losses and the loss of Aaron Rodgers to a concussion for two games later in the season – and you can see why doubt would creep in.
As happens during the course of an unpredictable NFL season, great organizations find a way to win and get to the big game. Not always, but most of the time. As it stands, Superbowl weekend is nigh, and the Green Bay Packers will battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers. As such, I’m inclined to join the moronic masses as one myself and toss my hat into the prediction ring and pick a winner from these two iconic NFL teams – each going for something like their 30th or 40th NFL Championship.
Who will win? I come down squarely on the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I’ll even pull a score out of my ass, please stand by…
31-21.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have rarely wavered from their smash-it-in-your face, grind-it-out style of football on both offense and defense over the course of their long and storied history. This season is no exception. Tough offense led by Ben Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall, Hines Ward and others. The usual brutal defense led by the often-fined James Harrison is unquestionably great.
The Green Bay Packers, led by an excellent quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, are a pass-first offense. Despite some significant running success during this post-season, it’s still the flair for the wide-open passing game that has been their bread and butter during the season. Still, their performances were decidedly schizophrenic during the course of the season and there is only so much magic a dramatic offense can work against such a staunch defense.
Here’s how it shakes out for me:
Quarterback: Edge to the Steelers. Aaron Rodgers is excellent and his statistics back it up. Still, it’s his first foray into the Superbowl. Ben Roethlisberger is about as tough as they come. His stats don’t scream superstar, but his toughness and his ability to consistently make clutch plays in big games or big situations is virtually unmatched. Two Superbowl wins in two prior appearances doesn’t hurt, either.
Running game: Hands down, huge advantage to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Combine that with the reality that the Green Bay Packers have been unimpressive against the run all season long, you have little reason to argue this one.
Defense: I give the edge to the Steelers. Both defenses are very good, save for the deficiencies the Packers have against the run. Still, the Steelers have a seemingly perfect defensive corps from the lineman, to the linebackers, to the defensive backs.
Special Teams: Whatever.
Coaching: I like Mike Tomlin. A lot. The Pittsburgh Steelers get this category, too.
I believe that we’ll see a heavy dose of running by the Steelers and a heavy dose of passing by the Packers. I expect that the Steelers will win the time of possession game as a result and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see a run/pass ratio somewhere in the neighborhood of 55/45. The Green Bay Packers will have little choice but to pass and probably do so at a ratio of about 65/35 in favor of Aaron Rodgers’ arm. Unfortunately, as is often the case with a heavy dose of passing, one too many tips or dropped passes or 3-and-outs is going to keep that Packers off of the field more often than they would like.
Here’s how I envision the scoring breakdown:
Pittsburgh: 1 passing touchdown. 2 rushing touchdowns. 1 defensive touchdown. 1 field goal.
Green Bay: 3 passing touchdowns.
Does any of this really matter in the grand scheme of things? Probably not. What’s most important is enjoying the unhealthy food, several of your favorite beverages (safely, of course), enjoy the commercials and enjoying what should be a very entertaining football game. The only negative I can see about Super Bowl Sunday is enduring the brutally long halftime show featuring some musical entertainment that no one could really give a rat’s ass about. Other than that, Sunday can’t really get here fast enough. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!
Nate Westre
Nate’s 3 Super Bowl Predictions
1. Clay Matthews and Troy Polamalu will both play well on defense, but the real battle will be between their hair. It will be an epic clash, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Bud Bowl 3 when strong quarterback play by #1 draft pick Bud Dry and a kickoff return for touchdown by Ralph in the final seconds gave Bud Light its first Bud Bowl victory.
Matthews’ dripping wet blonde locks will fight valiantly but will ultimately come up short against the tentacle-like curly mane of Polamalu.
Big play scoreboard:
Head and Shoulders – 5
Suave – 3
2. Brett Favre will make an appearance during the pregame warmups, dressing as Jeff Gillooly and going all Tonya Harding on Aaron Rodgers’ knee. He’ll claim it was the only way to make sure Rodgers didn’t win and ruin Favre’s legacy. “It’s all about me,” he’ll say. “NFL stands for National Favre League.”
Next thing you know he’ll release a sex tape to keep himself at the front of people’s minds. (Oh wait, that’s kind of already happened.)
Next thing you know he’ll become a professional boxer and fight on Mike Tyson undercards.
Abominable actions scoreboard:
Favre – 2 (for the knee whack and the Penisgate)
Rodgers – 0 (unless you count a late interception to Polamalu giving the Steelers one last chance)
3. Over, Heads, Touchdown by pass, Packers, Steelers, Yes, Yes
(National Anthem time – over/under 1:54, coin flip, first touchdown, which team scores first, which team has the first turnover, will both teams make a 33 yard or longer field goal, Will Fergie be dressed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader at any point during her halftime show?)
Betting scoreboard
Vegas – millions
Me – I probably won’t want to talk about it
Final score: Green Bay wins 27-24 on a late field goal
Chris Richardson
Chris’ Visual Thoughts:
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, here are a few thousand words, and a video or two, about my feelings towards the Packers/Steelers match-up. See if you can tell which way I’m leaning.
Image courtesy
Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to things like what’s going on in the above image:
But it doesn’t help the cause (and no, the other side isn’t perfect, either):
Nevertheless, I’m really, really hoping to see a whole lot of this on Super Bowl Sunday:
Final score:
Packers – 31
Steelers – 24
MVP: Greg Jennings
Oh, and can somebody give Merril Hoge, aka, Ben Roethlisberger’s little cabana boy, a nice, hot cup of STFU? If so, send it with my regards.
Mike Sansone
Steelers Win In 7 Overtimes
Can we make this a mini-series?
The Steelers. The Packers. Meeting in Dallas! This is so much fun, I hope the game goes into seven overtimes and plays over into Monday Night Football – Super Bowl XLV Chapter 2.
Wouldn’t that be sweet? And it really is that close, in history and in the present.
Both teams have high-scoring defenses, quarterbacks who’ve overcome question marks and adversity, won despite a lot of injuries and without excuses , tailbacks that run standing too tall, lots of hair flowing on defense, and no-nonsense coaches. Long-standing traditions in a small-market, huge-hearted city. And dynasty decades.
This thing was so even it took the commissioner doing some trash-talking just to give things some unbalance.
The Steelers will win this one with # 7 landing trophy No. 7. Except for that one game where Neil O’Donnel got paid under-the-table to throw the ball to Larry Brown a couple of times, The Steelers win Super Bowls.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are America’s Team. Even Madden Football shows the Steelers victorious, and they are usually right on the money.
Pittsburgh wins 23-17, with a mid-4th quarter touchdown pass from Big Ben to Heath Miller after a clutch interception by MVP Troy Polamalu. The Steelers defense will prove clutch, stopping a last ditch effort by the Packers to drive into the end zone in the closing seconds of the game.Similar Posts:
- The Lombardi Trophy Comes Home! Will It Stay There?
- Will Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers Ever Escape Brett Favre?
- Super Bowl Predictions (Super Bowl XLIII)
Expert Super Bowl Predictions! Who’s Taking Home The Trophy? is a post from:
