Super Bowl Picks

Decided to skip picks for Championship weekend; too much at stake. I felt like my doubt in the Jets was fueling their run to the Super Bowl. I picked them to get blown out by the Colts, they won. I was 100% sure they’d get blown out by the Patriots, they won. I wasn’t going to cost Big Ben and the Steelers a potential trip to the Super Bowl by hexing them and picking them. As for the NFC matchup, my dislike of the Bears was well documented. They cost my Giants a playoff berth (OK, there were other factors, i.e. monumental collapse against the Eagles, but I blame the Bears week 17 loss to Green Bay. It helps me sleep at night). They were the one reason the Packers were even in the playoffs. The only justice for their crime would be to get one step from the Super Bowl and lose to the team they helped get in the playoffs. Plus Aaron Rodgers is slowly becoming my favorite quarterback whose last name isn’t Manning. Just as with the Steelers, I couldn’t cost them a trip to Dallas. I went pick free for Championship weekend and everything worked out.

Now its time for Super Bowl 45. The game has so much promise. It’s going to be at Jerry’s World which means it will set the record for largest Super Bowl crowd since anything held there sets the record for largest crowd at event X. It is pitting two of the most storied franchises in all of football and quite possibly all of sports. Green Bay can make an argument for being ranked up there with the Yankees and Lakers. Pittsburg is no slouch either. With all of the love that the Patriots and Colts receive, the Steelers seem to have just as much success without all of the media hype. This could be the Steel city’s third Super Bowl win this decade. Big Ben will join elite company with many more years left on his career. The game features two great defenses, one elite offense and another sneaky good offense that can put up points if you don’t pay attention. Each defense is lead by players that will undoubtedly be the subject of a million tales of the tape reports… on their hair. Super Bowl 45 has a lot of story lines and two teams that should make for an exciting night of football. It even has something for the ladies. This years Super Bowl halftime show won’t be produced by VH1 like it has been for the past few years (This is a joke. Just in case you actually thought VH1 has been producing the string of Classic Rock acts that have been featured since MTV cost us good entertainment with Nipple-Gate). The game itself will have plenty of Boom Boom Pow from these hard hitting defenses and so will halftime with a musical performance from an act that is actually relevant this decade (Had to get a cheesy Black Eyed Peas reference in the column, I apologize).

With that being said, its time to get to the pick.  Both teams are very polarizing; the country will be separated into 3 sections on February 6^th. One third of the viewers will love the Steelers, one third will love the Packers and the remaining third despises both teams with every fiber of their being. Bears, Vikings, Browns and Ravens fans will make up a majority of this section while a great deal of the remainder will be casual sports fans who are co-workers with an annoying Steelers or Packers fan. Avoiding seeing this person on Monday with a tie of their respective team and extra obnoxiousness is enough to make these individuals root against these two teams. Both teams deserve to win. Both have overcome a great deal this season. The Packers fought through tough injuries, including a season ending injury to their only rushing threat early in the season.  The Steelers had to play quarterback by committee for the first four games of the year and went an amazing 3-1, while the Cowboys and Vikings, who had quarterbacks they loved, essentially had their season ended by that point of the season. Both teams have great quarterback play and punishing defenses. However, the game will be played indoors. This will favor the team with the better offense. Both teams are used to playing in the elements but everyone loves to play in a dome. Rodgers has been lights out in the playoffs; not just this year but last year too, the number of points he put up in Glendale last year would win the game 99 out of 100 times. Roethlisberger is trying to set an historic pace. He is playing in and trying to win his third Super Bowl. He is only 28 years old! Is anyone else thinking about how Kurt Warner and Bret Favre were highly effective into their late 30’s? Roethlisberger could potentially have three rings with another 8-9 years of quality years followed by 2-3 years in which he goes all ’09 Vikings Bret Favre left in him. This is absolutely mind blowing. The game should be very close and very good. Picking a winner isn’t easy. Seeing Roethlisberger make history would be nice. Watching Rodgers slowly start to make his way out from under Favre’s shadow would be great too. The Packers have been in the playoff mode for practically like 7 weeks. Hard to say if this will be a benefit or if will start to take its toll on the players about now. Big Ben has another level of play in the playoffs and it is almost stupid to pick against him.

Now that I’ve babbled aimlessly its time to finally make a prediction. Packers ride their momentum and get the victory in a great game, 27-24.