Colgate Around The Hill: Super Bowl Sunday Edition

By Scott Blumenfeld

Maroon-News Staff

The Packers and Steelers are both very talented teams peaking at the right part of the season, however, only one of them will walk away from the Super Bowl hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Unfortunately for those of us who enjoy watching parity play out in the NFL, Pittsburgh is going to win their third Super Bowl in six years. Ben Roethlisberger is one of those quarterbacks who you do not want to bet against in the playoffs. His ability to extend the play in­evitably translates into at least two or three clutch plays each game for his offense, and it will be a tough task for Clay Mathews and company to keep him bottled up. Of course Rodgers possesses the same mobili­ty, however, he isn’t the one with two Super Bowl rings already. Rodgers has generated a lot of talk because of his play at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs, however, he looked sloppy in last week’s win over Chicago. Sloppiness will mean turnovers against a Dick LeBeau defense that has two of the best defensive playmak­ers in the game in safety Troy Polamalu and linebacker James Harrison. Expect at least one or two big plays from those two in Dallas on Super Bowl Sunday, and expect the Steelers to eke out a victory against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Final Score: 23-20

By Charlie Balk

Maroon-News Staff

Year after year, two of the strongest defensive teams seem to find their way into the Superbowl. This year is no ex­ception, as the two of the best defenses in the league (both 3-4 style) have outlasted everyone else once again. But hard-nose, disciplined, well-coached defenses never get that far without a quarterback in the upper echelon to lead the offense and put points on the board. Once again, this is true too. In the playoffs, the quarterback who performs under pressure and finds ways a few failed plays into conversions when it matters, is often the difference maker. Can Aaron Rodgers and Ben Ro­ethlisberger both do this? Yes. Are both defenses good enough to make it hard on the opposing offenses and cut down on easy points? Yes again.

Ultimately, this game should come down to Rodgers versus Roethlisberger and who’s the tougher guy under pressure: who’s got the bigger jock. As great as Rod­gers has been, the reason I’m inclined to favor Ben and his Steelers is he has come through during similar circumstances in the past and has done so more consis­tently in more clutch games. So compar­ing quarterback to quarterback, I trust Roethlisberger more. But this is assuming his injury plagued offense line holds up for long enough for him to have a chance. Fortunately, Big Ben is the best at avoid­ing and breaking tackles in the league. I like the Steelers on Superbowl Sunday, but it’s hard to say either team is a sure thing.

By Jordan Plaut

National Sports Editor

As a San Francisco 49ers fan, and football fan in general, this Super Bowl matchup is asking me to choose between two teams I would much rather find at the bottom of their respective divisions.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have never re­ally been rivals for my hometown team, however, their recent title pushed them ahead of the Niners and Dallas Cowboys for most Super Bowl wins in NFL history at six. With only one Super Bowl loss, an­other championship would surely make the Steelers the most successful franchise in the NFL.

The Green Bay Packers, on the other hand, have been rivals with the 49ers since the early 90s when epic battles be­tween Brett Favre and Steve Young would essentially determine NFC superior­ity each year. Any success for the Pack­ers was almost always at the expense of San Francisco.

Now that Favre’s presence in Green Bay is but a bitter memory for Packers and Niners fans, I find my allegiances temporarily alligned with the cheeseh­eads. After all, quarterback Aaron Rodg­ers is a Northern California native and played college football at U.C. Berkeley. In fact, he was the unanimous fan choice for number one overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft before 49ers management de­cided otherwise. Plus, after toiling be­hind an indecisive Favre for a few years, he deserves to win a title (that would tie him with the former Packers legend, who only won once).

In terms of the game itself, it is hard to believe it will be nothing short of an incredibly epic duel. Both defenses are nearly impenatrable and both quarter­backs know how to come through in the clutch. Maybe I would feel differently if I didn’t truly despise the Steelers, but I have to go with my boy Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. He could have been a 49er, so maybe this title could have been a Niners one too.

Final Score: 21-17