1. Maurkice Pouncey’s injury. The rookie Pro Bowl center proved his worth over the course of the season and the playoffs. The Steelers aren’t completely ruling him out for the Super Bowl, but a high ankle sprain is not easy to recover from. It takes months of rehab. If he does play on Super Sunday, he’ll be severely limited and will be faced with the troublesome task of trying to block B.J. Raji.
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When Pouncy left the first half of the game against the Jets, Ben Roethlisberger and Doug Legursky fumbled at the goal line, which resulted in a Jets safety. But Pittsburgh continued to effectively pound the ball up the middle with Pouncey out. That’s a good sign for the Steelers.
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2. The run game. James Starks and Brandon Jackson are spearheading a Green Bay running attack averaging 118 yards a game in the playoffs. The Packers need another strong effort from them to give Aaron Rodgers some breathing room. It’s not going to be easy against a Pittsburgh D that allowed only 62 rushing yards this season.
On Pittsburgh’s side, Rashard Mendenhall is capable of carrying the load offensively. Ben Roethlisberger had a bad game against the Jets, but Mendenhall set the tone early in the first half. And the Steelers never looked back. Now, Mendenhall will be handed the task to be the first RB to rush for a hundred yards against the Packers in the playoffs.
3. Highlight reel defense. For a Troy Palomalu, Green Bay has a Charles Woodson. For a Clay Matthews, Pittsburgh has a James Harrison. These two teams are evenly matched on defense. Green Bay’s Sam Shields and Tramon Williams developed faster than we thought. With Woodson, Shields and Williams the Packers have a best trio that can force turnovers and put points on the board.
Everything Green Bay’s defense will do on February 6, we will expect. You can’t say the same for Pittsburgh. We always expect Polamalu to do something that’ll make it to the highlight reel on ESPN. Heck, we didn’t even expect Polamalu’s jersey to be the bestseller among…women. He never ceases to amaze us. He is capable of everything. Polamalu could sack the QB run for the touchdown and come out to kick the extra point. I mean, this guy always has something up his sleeve.
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4. December 20, 2009. The last time these two teams played each other, Pittsburgh edged Green Bay, 37 – 36. Ben Roethlisberger threw the winning touchdown in the dying seconds to Mike Wallace, who barely got his two feet in the end zone. Big Ben finished the game with 503 yards passing and three touchdowns. Aaron Rodgers was brilliant himself with 383 yards passing and three touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. What does their 2009 meeting mean?
It means that it is possible that Pittsburgh can beat Green Bay through the air. It doesn’t mean though that the Steelers should stop rushing the ball because anything that would keep Rodgers of the field is good.
5. Experience. Pittsburgh has been here before and actually won. Green Bay? Their last Super Bowl appearance was in 1998 when Brett Favre was still quarterback and Aaron Rodgers was still playing high school football. The Steelers have virtually the same personnel intact. They know how to get the job done.
