Monday, January 24, 2011

A dream matchup

I'm so excited for the Super Bowl. Not just that the Steelers made it, but that they'll be playing the Packers, a team with a similar tradition.

I was super-excited for Super Bowls XL and XLIII, but Pittsburgh's opponents in each game weren't exactly the marquee franchises of the NFL: The Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals respectively.

Don't get me wrong, they were both very memorable games for different reasons, but the Steelers really had to carry the hype for the two weeks leading into the games.

It's going to be different with the Packers.

Like the Steelers, the Packers are cherished by the city they represent and they also have a national following established by years of winning and by having some of the greatest coaches and players in the history of the NFL.

You have tradition vs. tradition.

The Terrible Towel vs. the Cheesehead.

The team of the 70's vs. the team of the 60's.

A record 6 Super Bowl titles vs. excuse me, but I didn't know they only started awarding NFL championships in 1966. We have 12 titles, thank you very much.

When the Steelers made Super Bowl XXX, it was a dream matchup, at least in name, since Pittsburgh's opponent was their their long-time Super Bowl rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. But the AFC was totally inferior to the NFC during that period and the Cowboys had already won 2 Super Bowls in the early 90's. The Steelers were huge underdogs for the game.

Super Bowl XLV is different. At least on paper, anyway. This looks to be the most evenly matched Super Bowl the Steelers have been involved in since Super Bowl XIII against those Cowboys. Both teams have great quarterbacks, dominant defenses, decent running attacks, and good-to-great coaching staffs.

Green Bay took the same road to the Super Bowl as the '05 Steelers, making it as the 6th seed out of the NFC. And just like the 2005 Steelers, the Packers have been established as early favorites over the Steelers, who are the number 2 seed from the AFC side of the bracket.

Being a Steeler fan, I'm obviously pretty confident that Pittsburgh will find a way to win this game. And if it's anything like Pittsburgh's last-second, come-from-behind, heart-stopping, 37-36, victory over Green Bay towards the end of the '09 season, Super Bowl XLV could be a gem.

Who knows, maybe Super Bowl XLV won't be a great game, but I do know this: Steeler Nation and the Cheeseheads will converge on the House that Jerry Built and Christen it like he never would have imagined when the Cowboys' owner petitioned the league to hold the Super Bowl there.

You better get ready, Jerry. It's time to party!

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