Yes, it's that time of year. For the first time since August, there will be no football on Sunday next week, because the week after is the biggest game and television event of the year (as it is every year), the Super Bowl. This will be Super Bowl 45. And it's the seventh time (a record shared with the Dallas Cowboys) the Pittsburgh Steelers will be there.
I got off work surprisingly early, so I was able to catch the entire second half of the Steelers-New York Jets matchup. When I showed up, it was 24-3. When the game ended, it was 24-19. The Steelers had two fumbled snaps (one leading to a New York safety), Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception and was sacked three times, and the Pittsburgh secondary dropped a couple shoulda-been-caught passes. And yet...
The key play in the game was in the second quarter, when Jets second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez was popped by Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor and the ball flew out of his moving arm, landing in no-man's land where it was scooped up by corner William Gay and run for a 19-yard pick six. The play gave the Steelers a 24-0 lead that would not relinquish, try as they might.
The other key play in the game came with about one and a half minutes left. On a 3rd & 7, Roethlisberger did what he does best: roll out, run, elude defenders, all while staring downfield waiting for someone to open up. Antonio Brown did, made a mid-air, diving catch for a first-down to set up two kneel-down snaps and causing Jets' talkative head coach Rex Ryan to yank off his headset, slam it down, and yell something that looked like "Duck" to those reading his lips. The Jets, who had scored 19 unanswered points after trailing close to halftime 24-0, were on a roll, and, in the bathroom just moments before, I had said to myself: "If Pittsburgh punts, the Jets will win this game." Pittsburgh didn't punt. Thus, the Jets did not win the game.
This will be the Steelers' seventh overall trip to the Super Bowl, only one of which they've lost. This is their third trip in six years. They beat the Seattle Seahawks in 2005 (Roethlisberger's rookie year) and the Arizona Cardinals in 2008. Two quarterbacks (Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw) have been under center for those six title wins.
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears in frigid Chicago, 21-14, to earn the right to challenge the Steelers on Sunday, February 6. Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler was knocked out of the game with an injury and Aaron Rodgers tackled Bryan Urlacher (yes, you read that right) as part of a full-game effort to capture the win. It was the 182nd meeting all-time between the two clubs, and it may have been the biggest.
It should be an exciting game, one a lot of people are having trouble calling or picking sides for.
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