Green Bay Packers Survive Scare in Chicago; Will Beat Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV

The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Green Bay Packers.

The Terrible Towel vs. the Cheeseheads.

The City of Champions vs. Titletown.

Any way you put it, Cowboys Stadium will be hosting a Super Bowl matchup between the NFL's two most successful franchises. The Steelers have won an NFL-record six Super Bowls while the Packers have won 12 NFL titles -- including nine pre-Super Bowl era NFL championships.

Now Pittsburgh and Green Bay will meet in the Super Bowl to decide which team will claim bragging rights as the NFL's most successful franchise.


Packers 21, Bears 14

I apologize to readers expecting me to have recaps for these games yesterday.

I am a Bears fan, so, for obvious reasons, I couldn't gather the motivation to do so.

Well, what is there to say? When you're down to your third-string quarterback playing against one of the league's best defenses, it's hard to believe you have a chance to win.

But I will give Caleb Hanie props. He gave a performance that, his two dagger interceptions aside, that kept Chicago in a game that, really, looked like a blowout loss.

He completed 13-of-20 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. He gathered up nearly twice as many passing yards as Jay Cutler, who was 6-of-14 for 80 yards before sitting on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Hanie had every excuse in the book to put on a lackadaisical performance. Aside from not being able to practice with the first-string offense and being called into that big a game on short notice, his team should have made him the backup, but instead went to Todd Collins to replace Cutler.

Instead of taking it personally, Hanie manned up and did his job. I will always remember that fondly.

As for Cutler, I don't know too many specifics on his knee. There were times, however, when his mobility seemed non-existent; hence, he was being pressured into making some bad throws.

During the game, FOX said Cutler didn't know when he injured his knee. For all I know, it could have been injured before the game.

With the kind of mistakes he makes with his throws sometimes and his big arm, Cutler has gotten some comparisons to Brett Favre. Obviously, this is where the comparisons end.

Favre, being the drama queen that he is, might have milked his knee injury for the cameras. But there was no way you could have kept him on the field.

Some props also need to go to the Bear defense. Although Brian Urlacher and company allowed Aaron Rodgers to pass for 244 yards and run for 39, they did their job in keeping Chicago in this game.

They made third down the Packer offense's worst nightmare. And they stalled two Green Bay drives with key interceptions.

But overall, this Packers team was just too much for the Bears to handle that day.



Now, regarding the Super Bowl...

As I said before, if there is one chink in the Steeler defense's armor, it is in the secondary.

Besides Troy Polamalu (I won't mess with him under any circumstances), the Pittsburgh secondary almost let the team down yesterday.

Trying to rally from a 24-0 second-quarter deficit, Mark Sanchez almost succeeded, finishing the game with 233 yards passing and two touchdowns. Thanks to his uncharacteristic catch-up skills, the Jets scored 19 unanswered points and seemed to be one offensive possession away from stealing the game.

Then Pittsburgh's offense saved the day, as Antonio Brown came through once again for a big catch, this time hauling in a game-clinching first down.

New York's offense isn't terrible, but it is not the type of offense that is designed to rally from big deficits. The fact is, the Steelers have not faced any offenses this postseason that anyone would consider to be potent.

Imagine what type of damage Aaron Rodgers and company could do to this defense. They already put on a respectable performance against the Bears' highly-ranked defense.

I never thought I'd say this about the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they'll be hit with a strong air attack. And when it's all over, the Vince Lombardi trophy will go back to Titletown.

Packers 38, Steelers 14