Neither Green Bay nor Pittsburgh really won their respective championship games.
In actuality, they squandered large first half leads and hung on to not be defeated.
Whatever works.
Both games were exercises in how not to play a football game with a lead. Green Bay showed its comfort with a late 14-point lead, letting third-string Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie pass right through its soft zone.
Over in the AFC, the Steelers couldn’t even manage a single point after a 24-point first half.
I hope the Super Bowl is a little more exciting.
One thing’s for certain: This Super Bowl will not be short of headlines.
What you have are two storied franchises vying for something they already have plenty of — Super Bowl rings.
Even more than that, you have two teams who were expected to make it this far. Both teams had huge expectations at the beginning of the season to end up here, and both were able to make it through to get to the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh was without its starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, for the first four weeks of the season, and they managed a 3-1 record.
Green Bay also had to manage a few late-season games without Aaron Rodgers, and both losses almost cost them a playoff berth.
And now with all of that in place, it’s time to make my far-too-early picks.
Instead of comparing quarterbacks, running backs, special teams, offensive lines and every other position (which will be overdone in the next two weeks), I’ll look at a few (of the numerous) other variables that could help pick a winner.
First off, these are both cold weather teams that play in outdoor stadiums, so it seems there is no advantage to either playing in a dome.
However, Green Bay is 2-2 this
season playing inside. They defeated the Vikings and Falcons and lost to the Lions and Falcons. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has played only one game inside this season, and that was a 20-10 loss to the Saints.
ADVANTAGE: GREEN BAY
There isn’t very much separating these teams heading into the Super Bowl. So I turn my attention to common opponents.
Both the Packers and the Steelers have played Atlanta, New England and Miami.
Green Bay lost at Atlanta, 20-17, in the regular season, but defeated the Falcons in Atlanta, 48-21, two weeks ago in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Steelers played Atlanta in the first week of the regular season and defeated the Falcons in Pittsburgh, 15-9, in overtime.
Both the Packers and the Steelers fell victim to New England. Green Bay lost on the road to the Patriots, while the Steelers fell at home.
Finally, the Packers lost to the Dolphins in overtime, 23-20, in week six of the regular season.
The Steelers were able to pull one out in Miami, 23-22, in week seven of the regular season.
ADVANTAGE: PITTSBURGH
One thing the Steelers have from the past few years these Packers don’t — two Super Bowl Rings.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has been here already. In fact, this is his second time working the big game in three years. Packers coach Mike McCarthy hasn’t coached in this big of a game in his now five seasons at the helm of the team.
I’ll take the Steelers, 31-26.
Sorry, fellow colleague and lifelong Packers fan, Luke Johnson. The title belt is going to Pittsburgh.
Andy Schwehm is a 21-year-old English and Psychology senior from Algiers, Louisiana. You can follow him on Twitter
@TDR_ASchwehm.
 
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Contact Andy Schwehm at
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