Super Bowl XLV What I Learned

Well, congratulations to Jason and the Packers for getting the job done.  We've been close enough in our picks many times before where one of us has to pick the Super Bowl correctly in order to win the season.  It's not easy.  The pressure of making the right pick can consume you in the 2 weeks of hype leading up to the Big Game.  It's why I started making my pick as soon as I find out the matchup.  I can waffle back and forth right up to kickoff if I allow myself.  But this year, it was on Jason to make the right choice, and he did.  I wonder how much he was influenced by being in the same house as a huge fan of the team he chose, not to mention living in the state of said team.  (And that housemate is talking some tall shit! lol)  But no matter, the game is over, the better team won.  That's not easy for me to admit because I grew quite fond of the Steelers this year.  I was impressed by how they rolled over their opposition while their QB sat out the first 4 games.  And when Big Ben returned, they kept marching over their opponents and showed me that they were focused and solid in every phase of the game.  I felt comfortable siding with them once the Patriots were knocked out of the playoffs, and in fact, I was very much looking forward to a NE-Pit battle for the AFC title.  I was committed to going with the AFC champ to win it all no matter who came out because the NFC as a whole was so unimpressive.  But Green Bay specifically taught me a lesson in overlooking a team and players that stepped up their game from earlier in the season.  No one could argue that the Pack had lost some serious manpower with all the injuries over the course of the season.  But by virtue of the Bears not knocking them out in the regular season finale, the Packers were able to take a deep breath and regroup, and they cut a swath through the playoffs that was as impressive as any run in recent memory.  So what do they do when confronted with injuries in the Super Bowl?  They shrug and keep scoring and hang on defensively long enough to eke out the win.  Guys no one ever heard of make plays and force fumbles and sneak underneath to grab INTs.  A team won the game together as a team.  Everyone had to make contributions, and they did.  They deserved every break that they made for themselves.  And Pittsburgh deserved to lose, because they found themselves ready to drive and score to take the lead a few times despite being down 3-0 in the turnover department, and they couldn't pull the trigger.  On this day, they weren't good enough.  Not against this Green Bay squad that was so used to holding their ground in the face of adversity.  Not against a QB used to shrugging off dropped passes by his WRs and putting ball after ball on the hands again.  The Pack virtually ignored the running game and attacked the Steelers deep, which is exactly what they should have done.  It's just about the only way to beat Pittsburgh, and only a few teams have the offensive firepower to do it, and Green Bay's one of them.  So once again, congrats to the Cheeseheads.  It was an entertaining Super Bowl (except for halftime), it was a nail-biter of a finish, but in the end, the team that executed better won the game hands down.  Now, get ready for billionaires to claim poverty at the height of their sport's popularity and lock out the jocks until they cave in to the owner's demands, as usual.