The game began with an actress from Glee I think she was trying to sing America the Beautiful no matter what it was it was horrible and Pennsylvania native Christina Agulara tried to sing the national Anthem and may have messed up the words. When the game started the Steelers went 3 and out and then kick the ball away and a blocker backed into the returner and the ball was the ground but a Packer was at the bottom of the pile with the ball and the first big play of the game was a 24 yard catch by Donald Driver but the Packers kicked it away. Then after another kick by the Steelers the Packers inched their way down the field with Arron Rogers going 5 for 6 helped by a 14 yard catch by Brandon Jackson and finished off by a 29 yard TD catch by Jordy Nelson but was keyed by 2 James Starks runs (7 & 8)and then Ben Roethlisberger throw an interception to Nick Collins who wived through Steelers for 37 yards and dove into the end zone to make it 14-0 Packers. Then Roethlisberger had the first big play for the Steelers which was 18 yard run at the end of the quarter on a 3 down which lead to a field goal to make it 14-3 which was helped by a 13 yard catch by Emmanuel Sanders and then the Steeler D got the stop they needed. Then Mike Wallace catch a 16 yard pass from Roethlisberger and then later a diving grab by Antwaan Randle El for 13 yards but 2 plays later Roethlisberger throw his second interception of the half this time by Jarrett Bush and 4 plays later Greg Jennings was in the end zone with 21 yard TD catch. The first play on the next Steelers drive was Antwaan Randle El catching a 37 yard pass and 2 big catches by Hines Ward of 17 and 14 yards before he catch a 8 yard TD catch to make it 21-10 Packers going into the second half and even worst news on this latest Steelers drive for the Packers was that Charles Woodson got hurt and is out of the rest of the game while Donald Driver was hurt earlier in the half and the Steelers lost receiver Emmanuel Sanders also for the game. To start the second half the Packers got the ball and moved backwards while the Steelers on their first drive of the half ran the ball right at the Packers which worked very well as Rashard Mendenhall ran 17 yards, Isaac Redman runs for 3, Ben Roethlisberger runs for 6, Isaac Redman runs for 16, and Rashard Mendenhall runs 8 yards into the end zone for 6 points as 5 rushes and 50 yards for the TD. Then the Packers go 3 and out again and can not get anything going in the second half and the Steelers get the ball back and Big Ben throws deep to the end zone but puts it in an uncatchable stop and the Steelers get another first down and try a 52 yard field goal that had no chance just like the Packers offense who went 3 and out and did challenge the third down incomplete play which was close but the call was upheld. When the game got into the fourth quarter Rashard Mendenhall ran with the ball until Clay Matthews hit the arm with the ball and Rashard dropped the ball and it was covered by the Packers and on the drive that followed James Jones catch a 12 yard pass on a third down to give the Packers a first down which was close but the Steelers only had a timeout left and decided to not challenge and three plays later Jordy Nelson catch a pass and ran which totaled 38 yards. After a Steeler sack Rogers hit Greg Jennings with a 8 yard TD catch to make it 28-17 Packers and when the Steelers got the ball back Mike Wallace started the drive with 2 big catches (11 and 14 yards) followed by Hines Ward 15 yard catch to setup a 25 yard TD catch and run by Mike Wallace to make it 28-25 with a Antwaan Randle 2 point run. The Packers kept the ball with a 31 yard catch by Greg Jennings and a 14 yard run by James Starks and a James Jones 21 yard catch that setup a field goal to make it 31-25 and the Steelers could not get the ball down the field and then turned the ball over on fourth down and Arron Rogers knelled it down to win and pick up the SUPERBOWL XLV MVP trophy too.
The Packers did not play a great offensive game especially in the second half but Big Ben over throw too many of his passes and the 3 turnovers were costly as it gave the Packers the chance to take the lead or come up with a response to the Steelers on slat and Arron Rogers was able to get enough complete passes to get the job down even though they had receivers dropping 5 passes and kicking all 4 times they had the ball in the third quarter. Jordy Nelson was a busy receiver with 9 catches and 140 yards and they got enough on the ground to keep the Steelers D to not be able to pin their ears back and after Arron Rogers (24 of 39 for 304 and 2 TD) while Ben Roethlisberger was 25 of 40 for 263 yards and 2 TD but 2 costly interceptions.
Great NFL season and hopefully another next season
Tom Mehegan
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