Two very good football teams will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Starting with Green Bay, its meteoric rise from the No. 6 seed in the NFC has been incredible to watch, and it's been because of Aaron Rodgers and their defense. Over the past three games, Rodgers has completed 71 per cent of his passes for just under 800 yards.
The Packers have one of the best defenses in the NFL, too. This group finished the regular season in the top five of both total defense (No. 5) and scoring defense (No. 2).
Speaking of great defenses, nobody plays quite like this Steelers bunch. Pittsburgh has more talent on the roster than anyone and its showed throughout the postseason, as they held Baltimore to 126 total yards and shut down the Jets for most of the AFC championship game. With good defenses on both sides of the ball, I expect the point total be under 44.
The Steelers have two New Orleans natives on their defense: cornerback Ike Taylor, who is the fastest corner in the league, and safety Ryan Clark.
Not to take anything away from Rodgers and the Pack, but Rothlisberger is just one of those guys whose stats never wow you, but he always makes one or two plays that are the difference in winning. That's been the case in the postseason, where he's had a couple of big plays late, including a third down and six conversion pass to Antoni Brown, which iced the AFC championship game.
Rothlisberger was drinking at a piano bar until 1 in the morning on Tuesday in Fort Worth on a night off. I don't think that will interfere with his performance on Sunday. If he wins on Sunday, he's a lock to go into the Hall of Fame with three Super Bowl wins.
In the end, these are two very good teams, and two that are worthy to be in the Super Bowl. Both defenses are elite, and both quarterbacks are among the best in the league.
There is no question in my mind that the game will be close, and there's no question that either team could win.
I'm taking the Steelers because they have the championship pedigree and the best big game quarterback in the game.
Take the Steelers and the 2 1/2 points. The wrong team is favored.
Note: I picked the exact score of the Steelers-Cardinally game and gave you the Saints and the points last year.
by Ed Staton
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