Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers on their Super Bowl Championship victory. Now that the game is over lets take some time to reflect and get some of these thoughts out on paper while the game is fresh in our minds.
While the Steelers may have been the team with the most super bowl experience they were certainly the team that seemed to be a little bit jittery to start. Were going to break down both teams by positions on offense and the defenses as a whole on how they played in this Super Bowl.
Quarterback: Did anyone else notice Big Ben throwing high for most of the first quarter? This was the guy that others and myself thought would stand alone as the difference in this game. Was the loss of Emmanuel Sanders that detrimental to their offensive scheme, because other than that I don’t see an excuse as to why his timing would be so off? His two interceptions were products of being hit as he threw and a great play by Jarrett Bush to undercut his intended receiver so I will give him a pass on those, even though they turned out to be the difference in the game.
Running Backs: Rashard Mendenhall seemed as though he was an all-pro running back at times and at others he got lost in translation and was almost forgotten about in times of play calling because of the early deficit the Steelers faced. The thing to look back on in this game for him was when he ran into the cameraman on the sideline and appeared to be banged up after the collision. Was this the reason that he couldn’t hold onto the ball in the fourth quarter when Clay Matthews caused the late fumble, granted this was a great form tackle and a well placed hit, but Mendenhall needs to know that a fumble just cannot happen in that situation. Redman and Moore performed admirably in limited action while Mendenhall was out but they really didn’t play enough to make a difference in this game.
Wide Receivers: Mike Wallace was outstanding, other than the final play of the game where I thought that he could made a better effort to make that catch and not blame the minimal contact from Tramon Williams, he had nine catches and scored a big touchdown for the Steelers towards the end. Also he probably could have had another if Roethlisberger wasn’t hit on his first interception. Hines Ward was Hines Ward, made big catches all day, especially in the end zone for his only score. He was consistently open on plays when it mattered most. Antwaan Randle El played probably his best game of the season in the absence of Sanders, but that isn’t saying much after a disappointing season. Heath Miller and others were insignificant other than a few catches here and there. Ultimately some early struggles for Roethlisberger led to this offense never getting in a good tempo.
Defense: Troy Polamalu is the defensive player of the year this season, so where was he ALL GAME. He got beat on the Greg Jennings touchdown and was virtually unseen when it came to a pass rush or stopping the run, he may have had a good amount of tackles but he was trying way to hard to make that game changing play we were expecting. The front seven for the Steelers did an outstanding job putting pressure on Rodgers all night and forced him to make some uncomfortable throws throughout this game. Second half pass rush led to the sputtering of the Packers offense and a few key sacks down the stretch. The defensive backfield for the Steelers were useless, McFadden got banged up so Rodgers went right after William Gay for their first touchdown to Jordy Nelson and then after that the front seven were the only people who were seemingly on the field. I said this before but I feel like it needs to be said twice, WHERE WAS TROY POLAMALU, maybe trying to do too much?
Special Teams: Where in the world was Sean Suisham kicking that football, a huge unremembered play in that game was indeed his missed field goal. Other than that the Steelers special teams played well.
And now for the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers….
Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers at times looked as though he was rattled and bothered by the Steelers pass rush and at times they were a bit overwhelming in the second half. He had some balls sail on him throughout the game but when it came down to crunch time he was able to throw the touchdowns to Greg Jennings, and Jordy Nelson and connect with Jennings on a deep ball to really clinch the last drive field goal. In addition to the balls that he did complete he also had several key drops most notably by Nelson and James Jones, which one or more could have lead to possible scores. Rodgers won the MVP and in this case I think he deserved it.
Running Back: James Starks and Brandon Jackson didn’t really do much in this game, in fact that Packers just won the Super Bowl with an NFL record low in rushing yards. Jackson did have a nice third down catch and Starks did pick up a few rushing first downs late in the game to help the Pack put it away.
Wide Receivers: Donald Driver went out early and only had one catch. Jennings and Nelson were the story beginning middle and late in this game. Nelson may have distinguished himself as one of the better slot receivers in the game after this playoff season. Making big catches in big spots all playoffs. This however does not overlook the fact that he also had some key drops throughout the game and may have even had two more touchdowns if he was able to catch that deep ball on the second drive and the ball in the corner of the end zone on the last drive. Jennings played pretty well throughout, making some good plays, especially with his first touchdown catch in front of Polamalu. Jones had some huge drops including one for a touchdown and a few others for first downs. Andrew Quarless barley played and didn’t contribute much at all.
Defense: Charles Woodson and Sam Shields went out at half time, subtracting two huge playmakers from the Green Bay defense. Tramon Williams was gift wrapped an interception and had a nice return for a touchdown, while Jarrett Bush made a great play on the interception over the middle, and contributed with the pass rush while replacing Woodson. Clay Matthews the defensive player of the year runner up played well but only had a few standout plays, when he knocked down a Roethlisberger play action pass and causing the late fumble which halted the best Steelers comeback attempt. Ultimately this defense and Dom Capers were handed an easy road to stopping Big Ben because of the deficit the Steelers faced all game which made them one dimensional. On the one drive the Steelers were able to use their running game they went right down the field to start the second half and scored a quick touchdown. BJ Raji and Cullen Jenkins were relatively quiet all game and the front seven didn’t really do much to standout. They played very well in spots but ultimately were able to sit back and defend the pass.
Special Teams: Crosby knocked down his only chance, and other than a botched fumble catch on the opening punt and the stupid Tramon Williams penalty they played really well.
The difference in the game were the turnovers and the fact that the Steelers were forced to become one dimensional, Rodgers didn’t turn the ball over and the Packers D forced a late turnover. This game didn’t necessarily prove that Roethlisberger isn’t the big game quarterback we thought he was but it did open our eyes to the next star quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.
No comments:
Post a Comment