This will most likely be the last post before the Super Bowl and we will try\u00a0too analyze the game position by position.<\/p>\n
Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers v. Ben Roethlisberger<\/p>\n
This is very close, Rodgers is the hottest QB in the league and he is the hot hand. Ben, who has had to endure a ridiculous week of stupid questions, including “why did you go out to dinner with your teamates?”, and constant reminders of his past indiscretion, has done a great job deflecting. Clearly though, he has been there twice and has the “intangibles”.<\/p>\n
Advantage: STEELERS<\/p>\n
Running Back:\u00a0James Starks v. Rashard\u00a0Mendenhall<\/p>\n
This is clearly the Steelers. Starks has done a great job, but Mendenhall has played against two outstanding defenses and is still banging around quite nicely. Special shout out to\u00a0John Kuhn, former Steeler and Shippensburg graduate! Sorry John, have to go with the Steelers<\/p>\n
Advantage: STEEELERS<\/p>\n
Wide Receivers:\u00a0Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson and James Jones vs. Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Antwaan Randle El<\/p>\n
This is a toss-up as Driver and Ward have the experience, while\u00a0Jennings and Wallace have the numbers. It is extremely close.<\/p>\n
Advantage: EVEN<\/p>\n
Tight End: Andrew Quarless v. Heath Miller<\/p>\n
Are you kidding me?<\/p>\n
Advantage: STEEELERS<\/p>\n
Offensive Line:<\/p>\n
With Pouncey out this is the first clear advantage the Packers have. The Steelers can hold their own on run blocking but lack in pass blocking.\u00a0This could be an equalizer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Advantage:\u00a0PACKERS<\/p>\n
Defensive Line: BJ. Raji, Cullen Jenkins and Ryan Pickett vs. Ziggy Hood, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel<\/p>\n
This is also a very close matchup as Raji is a stud. But the Zig is on fire and so is\u00a0Keisel and with Big Snack in the middle this is a clear advantage for the Steelers. They have size, speed and experience. Although, I have to admit when Raji scored I got excited. Love when fat kids get the ball!<\/p>\n
Advantage: STEELERS<\/p>\n
Inside Linebackers: A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop vs. Lawrence Timmons and James Farrior<\/p>\n
Hawk and Bishop are solid players and while Matthews gets the press Hawk is no slouch. But, seriously Timmons is a bona fide star now and probably one of the best ILBs in the league. I could write ten pages on James Farrior and what he means to the Steelers and the kind of player he is. This is clearly the Steelers!<\/p>\n
Advantage: STEELERS<\/p>\n
Outside Linebackers: Clay Matthews and Erik Walden vs. James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley<\/p>\n
Clay Matthews is a killer! He is\u00a0going to be disruptive all day. That being said Erik Walden is\u00a0a backup filling in for Nick Barnett. While the Packers have one Clay Matthews the Steelers have two. He might not have cool hair but James Harrison and NOT Clay Matthews is the best Outside Linebacker in this game and the second best in this game\u00a0is not Clay Matthews either, it’s Lamarr Woodley!<\/p>\n
Advantage: STEELERS<\/p>\n
Cornerback: Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams vs. Bryant McFadden and Ike Taylor<\/p>\n
Woodson and Williams are ball hawks, Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden are caretakers who don’t allow big plays. Woodson is a Hall of Famer and he is the differentiator here. This one is clearly the Packers.<\/p>\n
Advantage: PACKERS<\/p>\n
Safeties: <\/strong>Charlie Peprah and Nick Collins vs. Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark<\/p>\n This is easily the weak link for the Packers. For the Steelers this is their differentiator. Troy Polamalu is simply the best player on the field Sunday. He now has had two weeks to recover and we expect him at full strength. Ryan “Crash” Clark is a big hitter and very experienced.<\/p>\n Advantage: STEELERS<\/p>\n Special Teams:<\/p>\n This is clearly the Packers. Neither team has a spectacular return game. While Suisham has been solid since his pick up his kickoffs are mediocre. Crosby is a safer bet. The punters are a wash, but I would\u00a0lean towards a guy who wasn’t pumping gas when the Season started. Not to mention that\u00a0every fan reading this blog has\u00a0gotten a stomach ulcer watching special teams. \u00a0<\/p>\n Advantage: PACKERS<\/p>\n Coaching: Mike McCarthy v. Mike Tomlin<\/p>\n I have written about this all season. Show me a Coach who loses both his Tackles 2\/3 of his D-Line and his star QB for four games and still makes the Super Bowl and\u00a0I will show you the best Coach in Football Mike Tomlin. With due respect to Bill Bellicheat he wouldn’t have won under these circumstances. I like McCarthy but he is not Tomlin!<\/p>\n Advantage: STEELERS<\/p>\n How we could lose:\u00a0The Packers have the offensive machinery to jump any team and they will try right off the bat. There is no way they can run on the Steelers but if they get protection Rodgers will be trouble.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But why we will win:\u00a0The defense is stifling and look for a huge push up front from the Steelers.\u00a0The Steelers will run the ball with success and that will be\u00a0what wins\u00a0the game, keeping Green Bay’s offense on the sideline and hammering them when they get the chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This will most likely be the last post before the Super Bowl and we will try\u00a0too analyze the game position by position. Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers v. Ben Roethlisberger This is very close, Rodgers is the hottest QB in the league and he is the hot hand. Ben, who has had to endure a ridiculous week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bwg-gr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions\/266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}