Aaron Rodgers guides the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV
Green Bay’s quarterback threw for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns to help the Packers win their fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
When the Green Bay Packers arrived to Arlington, Texas they received a clear message from their head coach Mike McCarthy reminding them that they where going to stay true to their style, where “the preparation is the prize”. That phrase pretty much summarizes why the Packers won Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers by 31-25. The sixth and bottom seed in the NFC stepped into the Cowboys Stadium prepared to demolish Pittsburgh’s defensive unit that for other contenders had been lethal, but not for them.
Guided by their quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who bought along his entire arsenal to the battlefield, the Packers began to build their victory since the first quarter, which they closed with a 14-0 lead. The first wound in the Steelers defensive unit was caused by a 29 yard pass from Rodgers that Jordy Nelson connected with 3:44 minutes to go, giving the chance to Mason Crosby to score the extra point. The second wound didn’t take too long to happen, as 24 seconds later Nick Collins was going to intercept a pass from Ben Roethlisberger and take the football all the way to the touchdown zone. Collins didn’t miss the kick and the Packers began to see the first fissures on the wall of steel.
Pittsburgh opened their box score with a 33 yard field goal from Shaun Suisham in the first minutes of the second quarter, which was the Steelers first sign of reaction. But the Packers knew that their rival was still feeling the effects of their attacks, and that they needed to take advantage of the situation by wounding them again. Another touchdown pass came out of Rodgers’ right hand, and Greg Jennings connected the 21 yard pass right on target, and Crosby added the extra point.
With a 3-21 in the box score the Steelers knew that their situations was critical and that they couldn’t afford to be wounded again, as the result was going to be catastrophic. Big Ben knew that there was still time to make up for the interception suffered in the first quarter, and with 39 seconds to go in the second quarter he threw an 8 yard pass to Hines Ward to reduce the distance to 11 points, after Suisham made the extra point good.
After halftime the Steelers had understood that attacking was not only a good defense, but also their only choice. An 8 yard run from Rashard Mendenhall and Suisham’s kick gave Pittsburgh reasons to believe that the come from behind win was possible, as there where still 10:19 minutes to go in the third quarter and 15 more minutes still to go in the final quarter, and the 11 point difference had been reduced to 4.
Far from feeling the pressure from their rival’s proximity, the Packers continued to be true to their style and the duo Rodgers-Jennings connected another touchdown pass. Crosby got the kick and they recovered the 11 point lead early in the fourth quarter. By then the wall of steel was already falling into pieces, although Big Ben renewed his team’s hopes with a 25 yard pass to Mike Wallace for the touchdown. In the following play Antwaan Randle kept the hopes alive with a 2 point conversion that put things 25-28 with 7:37 minutes left before the end. What was supposed to turn into an epic come from behind victory for the Steelers faded away with Mason Crosby’s 23 yard field goal, which gave the Packers the 6 point lead with which they where going to win their fourth Vince Lombardi trophy in franchise history.
With a final score of 25-31 the Packers proved that they had prepared better for the Super Bowl XVL that the Steelers, and with 3 TDs passes and no interceptions Rodgers was elected as the MVP of the game. This is how the 2010/11 NFL season came to an end like it does every year: with a smile in one state and disappointment on the other.
