Super Bowl XLV - Secondary

Green Bay - Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, Nick Collins, C. Peprah
Pittsburgh - Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, William Gay, Ryan Clark, Troy Polamalu

The last two NFL Defensive Players of the Year reside in the Green Bay and Pittsburgh secondaries respectively. Traditionally this award tends to go to linebackers and defensive ends, but Troy Polamalu and Charles Woodson have been two of the best defensive players in the league for years, regardless of position. These men make everyone around them better. They can cover large portions of the field and are also strong in the running game as well as coming off the edge in blitz packages. As great as the QBs in this game are, they will be looking to avoid Polamalu and Woodson.

Green Bay's secondary makes it very difficult to throw the ball. They cover the entire field well. They have two shut down corners in Woodson and Tramon Williams, and safeties Nick Collins and Charlie Peprah are very effective pass defenders as well. This unit leaves virtually no passing lanes for opposing QBs to throw. This will make life more difficult for Ben Roethlisberger than he is accustomed to. Woodson does it all for Green Bay. He can play any type of coverage and is not afraid to come up and stick a running back or come on a nickle blitz. Tramon Williams can get physical at the line with speedy Mike Wallace and has the speed himself to keep up with him should Wallace get off the line. This secondary is one of the primary reasons that the Pack is back in the Super Bowl.

Troy Polamalu is what makes Pittsburgh's entire defense click, especially the secondary. The evidence is in their 6-7 record without Polamalu over the last two seasons. They are 15-4 with him. The players lining up with him in the secondary feel that they don't get the respect they deserve. Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, and Ryan Clark have all been here before. All of them contributed on the 2008 Super Bowl championship team. Taylor can certainly hold his own, but McFadden has been susceptible to allowing too many completions. Ryan Clark is a perfect compliment to Polamalu, and can lay the hammer when the opportunity presents itself. Polamalu's teammates should get to prove their worth this Sunday. Green Bay will probably look to spread the Steelers out and attack any one on one options Aaron Rodgers may get.

It is very difficult to go against the newly crowned NFL Defensive Player of the Year in this matchup, but remember Charles Woodson won this award last season. I think that Polamalu is without a doubt the single most disruptive player in the NFL. But the rest of the Steelers secondary is not as strong as Green Bay's. The Packers secondary blankets receivers. Roethlisberger will have to thread the needle repeatedly to move the ball through the air. As long as Rodgers can avoid Polamalu, he should be able to find some openings elsewhere. As a group Green Bay's secondary gets the nod here.

Advantage - Green Bay