Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Super Bowl XLV - Recap

Green Bay 31 Pittsburgh 25

The 2010 NFL season officially came to an end Sunday night with the Lombardi Trophy returning to its rightful home. The Green Bay Packers honored their legendary former coach by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 and bringing the trophy named after him back to Green Bay for the first time in 14 years.

Aaron Rodgers completed a historic playoff run, making the Packers Super Bowl champions. Rodgers won MVP honors - something that his prdecessor Brett Favre never did - by throwing for 304 yards and 3 TD against a vanted Steelers D. He received plenty of help from his own vaunted D. Green Bay picked off 2-time Super Bowl champ Ben Roethlisberger twice on the night. Nick Collins returned one of them 37 yards for a TD to give the Pack an early 14-0 advantage. Later in the game, with momentum shifting dramatically and Pittsburgh driving to take their first lead, Clay Matthews forced a Rashard Mendenhall fumble. Green Bay recovered and possibly changed the outcome of the game.

The Packers lead 21-3 with just over 2 minutes to go in the 1st Half. Big Ben lead Pittsburgh all the way back to within 28-25 with 7 minutes left in the game. After a Mason Crosby field goal gave Green Bay a 31-25 lead with 2 minutes left, the stage looked to be perfectly set for another Roethlisberger miracle. But Pittsburgh's luck finally ran out. There was no magic left in Ben's hat, and his season of redemption fell short of a 3rd Super Bowl title in 6 years. Roethlisberger threw incomplete to Mike Wallace on 4th and 5 and the Green Bay Packers were the new world champions.

Aaron Rodgers sky-rocketed himself into elite QB status. Mike McCarthy etched his name in Packer coaching lore and may have earned himself a street name in the quaint Wisconsin town. Charles Woodson and Donald Driver earned a long-awaited Super Bowl ring. The stories were abound. One thing was certain, this night belonged to the Cheeseheads, and the Packers will return to Titletown with the title of World Champions!

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