John's Super Bowl Pick

The big game is finally here.

And the matchup between the Steelers and Packers promises to actually live up to the Super Bowl hype. On their side is recent history (the last few Super Bowls have been pretty fantastic), crappy weather in Dallas that has mostly tempered Super Bowl week stories — the big scandal…Ben Roethlisberger at a piano bar…dun, dun DUNNNN!!! — and has actually transformed the weather INTO the story…and made us look forward to the game itself.

Also, there’s the fact that these are two really great teams.

Let’s get to it. I’ve gone 6-4 in the playoffs so far, but, like both these teams, I want to finish strong.

PITTSBURGH VS. GREEN BAY
It’s hard to go against the Steelers because they always seem to find a way to win.

However, I’m picking the Packers in a relatively low-scoring game for two reasons. 1.) Super Bowls tend to get off to pretty slow starts because of all the pre-game spectacle and the sheer enormity of the moment. 2.) Both of these defenses are outstanding.

There’s been talk about how the Packers are going to spread out their receivers and attack the Steelers secondary, their alleged weakness. That may be true, but I suspect the Steelers have also heard this talk and that they won’t exactly be shocked when the Packers come out with three or four wide receivers. I think the Steelers defense will play well, and I’d be pretty surprised if we see a replay of the 37-36 contest between these two teams from last season.

On the flip side, I think the Packers defense will be even better against Big Ben and the Steelers offense. I’m not even THAT concerned about the absence of Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey. The main reason his backup, Doug Legursky, was kind of bad against the Jets (two botched QB-center exchanges) was because he was thrust into the game. Plus, it was freezing. Legursky will be better with two weeks of preparation. I think the Packers excellent secondary will shut down the Pittsburgh wide receivers (other than Mike Wallace, they’re kind of average).

In fact, I like one of those guys for my Super Bowl MVP. I’ll stop dancing around it and give you my prediction.

Green Bay 23, Pittsburgh 13

Super Bowl MVP: Charles Woodson, CB, Packers