By Dan Marcus
Sunday’s Super Bowl wasn’t just a matchup of two similar teams on the field. It was a familiar story with different roles.
Few remember that this Packers team that was 8-6 and needed to win out the regular season with help to make the playoffs. Not only did they win out and get help, but they did not lose again this season. It is strikingly similar to the run the Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.
Pittsburgh was 7-5, and never lost again.
Both teams were the No. 6 seed and were thus on the road for every game. Both went into the second round heavy underdogs going into a loud dome, and came out victorious.
The Green Bay Packers have 24 teams to thank for their fourth Lombardi Trophy after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV. Those teams would be the 23 that passed on Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Rodgers earned the honor of MVP, going 24-39 for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns, while converting two Steelers turnovers to points, but most impressive was Rodgers’ efficiency at the end of the game.
Coming into the game, Roethlisberger was better known for his late game heroics than Rodgers, but after Rodgers led a methodical drive that stalled for a field goal late in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger had no time to be heroic, and was unable to put a drive together.
The victory had to be sweet for Rodgers. Not only did he just win his first Super Bowl, he exorcised every demon possible on Sunday night.
Forgotten is the shocking fall from possible first pick of the draft to 24th.
Forgotten is the talk that Ben Roethlisberger is the best clutch quarterback in the NFL.
And finally, and I mean FINALLY, all the talk of Brett Favre can go away. No matter what Rodgers said, he had to realize that Favre was the reason he sat on the bench for the first few years, and also beat him twice last year. Rodgers no longer will be compared to what Brett Favre might have done. Rodgers’ stats-and now his ring-speak for themselves.
Imagining Favre squirm uncomfortably in his chair watching the game has to be satisfying for Rodgers, Packers fans and every fan of the NFL who had to deal with his shenanigans for the past three years. While not nearly as amusing, but still interesting to think about is what the San Francisco 49ers must be thinking.
They had the chance to take Aaron Rodgers as the No. 1 overall pick, but instead have been stumbling around with Alex Smith and several other quarterbacks in the past few years. Rodgers might have made the 49ers and Favre almost as miserable as the Steelers on Sunday night, almost.
