Super Bowl XLV - Running Backs

Green Bay - James Starks, Brandon Jackson, John Kuhn
Pittsburgh - Rashard Mendenhall, Mewelde Moore, Issac Redman

Neither one of these teams possess a bona fide star at RB. Rashard Mendenhall is the closest thing we have to that in this matchup. He proved in the 1st half of last week that he is capable of taking over a game. Green Bay lost Ryan Grant early in the season and has relied on a pass-heavy offense through much of the year. The emergence of James Starks in the playoffs has aided the Packers run to the Super Bowl. He has not run for massive amounts of yards, but the mere threat of running the ball has opened up the offense for Aaron Rodgers. Don't expect too many breakout runs in this Super Bowl.

The Packers running game was far from thrilling in 2010. Brandon Jackson lead the team in rushing with just 703 yards. He lost the starting job to James Starks for the playoffs. Starks has not set the world on fire but he has grounded out some yards that teams need to keep drives going. Jackson has reverted to more of a 3rd down back. Aside from Starks and Jackson, the Packers are not afraid to hand the ball off to John Kuhn in short yardage situations. Overall, Green Bay ranked 24th in the league in rushing, averaging just 100 yards a game. They will be hard pressed to rush against an all-time great rushing D that Pittsburgh owns.

Pittsburgh was pretty good on the ground this year. That is all you need when your team has this D. Mendenhall has the talent and size to become one of the NFL's best. He ran for 1,273 yards during the rugular season - good for 7th in the NFL. He has complimentary backs in Issac Redman and Mewelde Moore who can spell him when needed and pick up yards when asked to. The Steelers were 11th in rushing at 120 yards a game. They will need to see similar production to keep the Packers' blitzes at bay.

The Steelers are far from being a dominant running team, but they clearly have the advantage here. Mendenhall is the best RB of the bunch. It is obvious to everyone looking at this game, that the Packers will not have much success running the ball. They simply have to pose the threat of running. The Steelers will look to control the clock with the run and keep their dominant D fresh. They should be able to provide enough in the ground game to give Big Ben enough support.

Advantage - Pittsburgh