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The new rules, enacted last season, read more like the fine print on your mortgage than a way to decide a football game. In the end, the problem the rules were amended to solve went entirely unsolved. The concise version of the changes is this -  both teams have a chance to possess the ball in overtime unless the team that receives the initial kickoff scores a touchdown or the defense scores on an interception, safety or fumble recovery.

The time-honored old way – sudden death – is no more. At least for playoff games. The change seems like the league wants it both ways. Since the coin flip played as much into deciding the winner as the plays on the field, they wanted to make overtime a more level playing field, so to speak, without going as far as the college game by adopting a matching-possession rule that can take a 17-17 game and turn it into a 41-38 barn-burner.

Sudden death was the warrior’s way to decide a playoff game. Play until someone scores. Period. Even if it takes an already brutal and exhausting game and doubles it in length. If you lose the coin flip, your defense had better hold. If you win the coin flip, it’s your one best chance to win the game while your defense sits comfortably on the bench.

But the NFL solution is half-baked. Each team gets a possession – unless the first possessor scores a touchdown. Then, as happened in Denver last Sunday night, the game could end on one snap. Even Demaryius Thomas, the receiver of the touchdown pass that will go down in Broncos history as one of the most exciting moments the Broncos have ever produced, was confused. He scored the touchdown and was already steeling his nerves to sit on the sideline and pray the worn-out defense could hold. But the game was over, and the mayhem around him soon clued him in to the fact that he was the hero.

So, NFL, what do you want? Matching possessions? Or sudden-death? Pick one. The Broncos were the beneficiaries this time, and I am not complaining about that. But for the good of the game, quit trying to confuse your fans, get down off the fence, and come up with a system that works. And while you’re at it, implement the system across the board – from preseason on. Even the prospect of a tie during the regular season makes fans shudder. Hockey eliminated the tie by introducing the shootout, which is one of the most exciting situations professional sports have to offer. NBA plays until there’s a winner. So does MLB. Either go back to pre-2010 rules with strict sudden death and regular season ties, or give us a matching-possession system all season.

And since we’re talking changes, about that replay system…

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Before the United States takes on Japan in the Women’s World Cup Final this Sunday, Abby Wambach’s head will become a full-blown celebrity.  Hope Solo’s contagious smile will be burned indelibly into the American sports audience’s consciousness.  Homare Sawa will become an even larger celebrity in her home nation of Japan where she is already its most revered female sports figure.

These are the stakes of the suddenly wildly popular Women’s World Cup.  In America, the heart and unrivaled joy displayed by the US women is a welcome reprieve from the sickening labor battles that cloud pro football and basketball.  In Japan, this maiden voyage to the World Cup Finals is a symbol of hope for a nation ravaged by earthquake, tsunami and nuclear fallout.

The plot lines run deep for both teams, and the US sprint to the finals became a potent symbol of American perseverance following Saturday’s epic defeat of Brazil in the quarterfinals.  Now these stalwart women have run on weary legs through a dangerous French team that dominated long stretches of a grueling semifinal match.  That rousing 3-1 win over the rising French has given the 2011 American Women a chance to achieve such soccer immortality as is enjoyed by the legendary 1999 World Cup Champion US team.

Japan also won twin battles against stacked odds when they downed the home-nation Germans in a shocking 1-0 quarterfinals match.  The undersized Japanese turned around and beat a similarly tall, physical Swedish side in Wednesday’s semifinals.  Japan has only graduated from group play twice, and it was the United States that sent them packing last time via a 4-0 quarterfinals defeat in 1995.  In fact, the Japanese have failed to score on the Americans in their only two games against the US at the Women’s World Cup.  A 3-0 Japanese loss to the United States in 1991 group play rounds out historical World Cup matches between the two sides.

To be sure, though, this Japanese team has displayed more toughness on defense and more offensive dynamism than any before it.  Led by the cagey veteran Sawa, Japan is playing its typical brand of technically brilliant soccer but with more confidence and creativity.

That could be trouble for the United States, who have struggled all tournament to control the ball through its midfielders.  Japan’s midfield moves the ball so concisely that their American counterparts will be challenged to keep pace.  While the Japanese have always struggled to make good on their long-lasting precision possessions, they are well known for their ability to play keep-away through quickness and crisp touch-passing.

Meanwhile, the Americans will come to Sunday’s Final with superior defense, goaltending and height.  Perhaps most importantly, the US will come to fore with Abby Wambach on a striking tear and a handful of other American forwards capable of finishing opportunities.  What the United States lacks in mid-field possession dominance is more than made up for with their dearth of scorers and by goalie Hope Solo.

In the end, it will be on Solo to keep a clean sheet long enough for the US to generate a lead.  Whispers before this tournament suggested that Hope may be the best female goaltender in the world, and she has been making a very convincing case for that opinion throughout this World Cup.

With another strong showing between the pipes, Solo’s strength could catapult these American women to legendary status.  Just one more win and the new guard will finally find themselves equals to the exhilarating 1999 US team that first brought women’s soccer to the hearts and minds of America.

Tune in to ESPN at 2pm ET this Sunday, July 17th to cheer on true sports champions representing America on the world stage.

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When Ali Krieger slotted home the quarterfinal-clinching penalty kick for the US side on Sunday it fulfilled the final exquisite detail of one of the most storied games in modern sports history.  Krieger nearly died in 2006 from blood clotting in her lungs that caused a half-dozen small heart attacks, surviving through luck and returning to the soccer pitch through inspiring perseverance.

So it was for the American team at the Women’s World Cup quarterfinal versus the dynamic Brazilians.  The US, brutalized by harsh refereeing, battled through nearly an hour of 10 on 11 soccer before scoring an awe-inspiring tying goal in the 122^nd minute while ESPN color commentator Ian Darke screamed, “Abby Wambach has saved the USA’s life!”

The Americans would go on to win on penalty kicks, but the story of the US women’s win is even deeper than that.

Never mind that the US powered to victory on penalty kicks yesterday just as they did twelve years ago to the day versus China in the 1999 Women’s World Cup.  Comparisons to that US team ring oddly hollow.  The ‘99 American women introduced international soccer to a broad US audience, inspired a generation of young girls, and injected women’s sports with a dose of the sublime.  But they did so on US soil in front of sold-out venues surrounded by a sea of red, white and blue.

The 2011 US women’s team began this quarterfinal match a villain.  Germany’s women, pre-tournament favorites to make and win the finals, were knocked out in their own quarterfinal against Japan.  The predominantly German crowd had fresh anger to work out, and reigned unfriendly whistles down on the Americans early.

But in transcendent Brazilian striker Marta the neutral audience found a new villain.

Through 68 minutes the United States battled even with the dynamic Brazilians, having maintained a 1-0 lead following Brazil’s own-goal less than two minutes into the match.  A hard charge to the goal mouth by Marta drew both a red card on US defender Rachel Buehler and a penalty kick in the box for Brazil.

Enter the story of US goalkeeper Hope Solo, who was kept out of the 2007 World Cup semifinal match against Brazil by since-deposed American coach Greg Ryan.  In that game, the US women suffered their worst defeat in 22 years of international play.  Brazil put four goals past aging American keeper Briana Scurry and shut out the US en route to a finals berth.

This time around Solo started with certainty.  On Brazil’s initial kick following that 68^th minute penalty, Solo confidently punched aside Christiana’s charity try.  Australian referee Jacqui Melksham again inserted herself into the game, negating Hope’s save by saying Solo left the goal line before Christiana’s foot touched ball.  It was an astonishingly bad decision by the referee, and Marta would step in to take and make the re-kick moments later.

That put the US down a player and the game tied at one with roughly 25 minutes of regulation to go.  Led by Solo’s brilliant goalkeeping the Americans would survive the remainder of regulation.  But just two minutes into the 30 minute overtime, Marta scored a brilliant go-ahead goal so cunning and well placed that even Hope Solo could not fly to stop it.  2-1 Brazil.

In a game heavily influenced by overtly biased refereeing against the world’s most dangerous offensive team led by the best female striker who has ever lived, the US fought on.  That fight, coupled with a widely-perceived slight by the referees, turned the German fan base against Brazil and against Marta.  Over 55 minutes of heroic man-down soccer by the US, the German crowd was drawn increasing towards the stubborn Americans.

On display was no even-strength win against an equal opponent.  This game became a US exhibition on the power of perseverance.  The assembled German soccer fans responded by joining American fans in attendance with loud, rousing chants of “U-S-A” in the game’s latter half.  Through sheer will and strength of conviction, the US women brought the crowd along with them as they stormed back.

Even down a player, even with Brazil sitting back in a defensive stance for the final fifteen minutes of overtime, the US pressed their attack.  Brazilian players fell twice with phantom injuries in the closing minutes to rest their weary defenders and kill clock, tagging 3 stoppage-time minutes onto the end of an already 120-minute long contest.

Perhaps poetically, it was in that abnormally long stoppage time that the US finally struck.

A 40+ yard cross off the foot of Megan Rapinoe streaked in from high above the left corner of the goal box and met US striker Abby Wambach near Brazil’s right post.  Wambach put her head flush on the diagonal trajectory and directed it straight into the right side of Brazil’s goal past a leaping defender and outstretched goaltender.  It was nothing short of breathtaking, and Wambach’s furious run to the far corner of the field as she pumped her fists and screamed pure joy is equal to any great moment in US sports history.

Less than a minute later the overtime ended and the game went to penalty kicks.  On the first US try, the Brazilian keeper stepped well forward before the kick launched and stopped a shot by Shannon Boxx.  The referee held to form and awarded a re-kick to the US.  This time Boxx scored true.  Four American women followed, each finding the back of the net.

Hope Solo needed just one stop to solidify the Americans’ amazing comeback victory, and she did it by icing Brazil’s third attempt.  That shot was ironically taken by Daiane, the same Brazilian defender whose extended leg tallied an own-goal more than a 120 match minutes earlier to give the US their 1-0 lead.

A story full of amazing moments and brilliant detail gathered up such depth as to seem fabricated.  Abby Wambach and US coach Pia Sundhage each drew on the image of a magnificently-written story unfolding in real life in separate post-game interviews.  To be sure, this tale of a warm summer day in Dresden belongs in the pantheon of great American sports stories.

Wambach said it best in her first post-game words.  “I think that that was a perfect example of what our country is about.  The history of this team has always been we never give up.”

And with that, the USA moved on to face the French in the Women’s World Cup Semifinals this Wednesday at 11:30 ET.

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ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that Major League Baseball Officials are discussing a divisional and league realignment that would leave both the American League and National League with 15 teams. As a person that has been pushing this idea on friends and colleagues for years, I’m all for it.

By Peter Christian

As Olney reports, the switch is being considered mainly for the purpose to add an extra playoff team in both leagues, but would need three, 5 team divisions in each league to make it work. The logic is solid. Which is a little out of the ordinary because this is MLB that we’re talking about.

Very few details were released in the initial story, which means that I (an uninformed outsider) have just as much information as the guy in cut off jean shorts at US Cellular field, but I’ve got a few ideas of where this could be headed.

The only team mentioned by Olney as possibly switching from the NL to the AL was the Houston Astros, which would create an instant rivalry with the Texas Rangers. That’s a good thought and it’s a solution that kills two birds with one stone. By moving the Astros from the NL Central to the AL West it means that the overall realignment will be very slight and will keep the majority of the rivalries that have been developed since the last realignment in 1998.

Any other options would also surely include an NL Central team moving to the AL and if they didn’t move directly into the AL West (for example if the Brewers moved back to the AL) the Kansas City Royals would likely be moved to the AL West.

Of course, MLB could go the opposite route and completely overhaul the current divisions to really reset the league. This path would mostly be to appease the teams that have to be in the same division with the Yankees and Red Sox every year while having a fraction of the payroll (read: Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles). This route could allow the league to really change the landscape of the league in a myriad of ways, they could go by proximity (AL East would be more Northern Seaboard, NL East would be Southern) or they could go by payroll averages. I don’t really like the latter idea but the former has legs.

A major proximity realignment could put the Phillies and Mets into the AL East with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays while the NL East could be made up of the Orioles, Nationals, Braves, Rays and Marlins. The AL Central would be made up of the Pirates, Indians, Reds, Tigers and Cardinals and the NL Central consist of the Cubs, White Sox, Twins, Brewers and Royals. The AL West would contain the Rangers, Astros, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Padres and the NL West would have the Dodgers, Angels, A’s, Giants and Mariners.

You’d be throwing out a lot of history and doing a lot of league switching (which would likely be deemed unnecessary) but you’d have divisions that are packed much closer than they are now. And for anyone complaining about the loss of rivalries due to the changes of leagues or divisions, there’s still one giant point that hasn’t been discussed: Interleague Play.

MLB, unlike any of it’s pro sports league counterparts has been able to stave off the complete integration of interleague play throughout the season. Currently, the league plays interleague games for one weekend series in May and then two weeks of series at the end of June. Four of the six divisions play 18 interleague games while the teams in the NL Central and NL West only play 15 (because of the extra two teams in the NL). With any change that is made to balance the AL and NL it would mean that ALL teams play an equal amount of interleague games AND that interleague series would be spread throughout the season.

Some might argue the special matchups might lose their luster if they aren’t all clumped together, but many would drown that out by saying, “TOO LATE.”

What it will do is allow the teams to maintain their focus on the baseball season and avoid the annual questions about being worried about the different rules for two weeks or how much fun it is to play a team from the other league. The players don’t care anymore, the fans don’t either. The media will soon leave it alone if MLB quits treating it like a dessert rather than simply part of the season. Also, going back to the point of maintaining rivalries, a continuous interleague play means there can still be weekend series between the teams that hate each other, there just won’t be as many of them.

As a whole, I love this idea, I love that the league came up with this idea without a suggestion of a US Senate committee meeting and I also love that this could be one more step to pushing the league to right the biggest wrong in it’s 142 year history: Eliminating the Designated Hitter.

But, like Dr. Leo Marvin would remind us, baby steps, Bob, baby steps…

Article courtesy TheSportsBank.net

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When Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow stopped by “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart“ on Thursday it was first and foremost to plug his new autobiography, “Through My Eyes.” That said, he had took some good-natured ribbing from the host, and provided some decent witty banter.

Tebow was funnier than I expected and he came off quite well. Even for a St. Tebow heretic like me, it was entertaining interview- at times. You can read the repartee here

But then Stewart moved on to discuss the Ohio State Buckeyes scandal, and if we now had reached a breaking point when it comes to compensation for college football players.

“It’s a tough situation,” Tebow said. “I can look on both sides of it. I can look on the NCAA’s side and see how hard it is. They got to manage so many athletes and make sure that none are doing anything illegal. But at the same time, you have athletes that are working extremely hard and make millions and millions for universities and they’re still struggling just to go to Outback just to get something to eat.

“I think something fair would be if some of the athletes just got a little bit more so they could go to dinner. Afford a scooter to drive around campus. Little things like that.”

“Really … a scooter?” Stewart asked. “What are they, Dennis the Menace?”

You can watch the full episode here

Story courtesy TheSportsBank.net.

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Welcome to the Pro Sports Colorado All-Cerveny Mock Draft.  Ian and Ben Cerveny teamed up to lay out EXACTLY how today’s 2011 NFL Draft will play out.  Watch and learn slackers!

Tune in to ESPN tonight at 6pm MT (8pm ET) to find out just how awesomely right the Cerveny brothers are… or just to see how magnificently wrong Mel Kiper can be.

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The CU Buffs have been the subject of an epic snub.

The Buffaloes men’s basketball team was locked out of NCAA Selection Sunday while lesser schools like UAB, Clemson, Michigan State, Michigan and VCU made the NCAA Tournament.

The fix is on.  The snub is in.  Boycott the NCAA First Round this week.

Instead the Buffs are NIT-bound.  An insulting consolation prize for a scrappy, overachieving team.  CU will run as a #1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament starting this Wednesday, March 16^th at 9pm EST.  The CU Buffaloes will play Texas Southern.

Meanwhile in the NCAA Tournament, inferior teams will be playing first-round games to determine who will move on to face higher seeds in the larger Tournament bracket.  In honor of this most heinous snub of CU Basketball, be sure to snub the NCAA back and skip those four first-round games.

NCAA Tourney games featuring schools that made it in at CU’s expense will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 15^th & 16^th.  Watch CU take on the NIT on the 16^th instead.  Hit the gym and read a book on the 15^th.  Screw the NCAA’s crooked reach for first-round TV ratings.

Of the teams selected ahead of CU, Clemson, UAB and VCU represent the worst burns.  Clemson and UAB have one Top 50 win between them.  The Buffalos have six against the Top 50 on their own to go with four wins against the Top 25.  VCU had just three Top 50 wins.

Conference Tournament winners (below) are a shoe-in for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  They represent the product of the long regular season/conference tournament process that decides automatic players in the Big Dance.  Schools like UAB, Clemson and Colorado have to rely on a crooked selection committee, and marketability plays a larger role than team ability.

For instance, Memphis beat Eastern Carolina University by 20 in the Conference USA Tournament on their way to an auto bid.  UAB was downed in its first conference tourney game by that same ECU team, seeded 8^th in the 10-team tournament.

The Buffaloes, playing in the stacked Big 12, managed three wins over Kansas State.  KSU started the year ranked #3, and the Buffaloes beat them twice when the Wildcats were ranked in the Top 25.  Including a hard-fought game in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

The Buffs had a better regular season and a better conference tournament than either UAB or Clemson, and played a much tougher schedule than VCU while having more success.  Yet CU missed out on playing in the NCAA Tournament despite beating seven tourney teams over the course of this season.

Colorado lost out to Virginia Commonwealth University despite VCU’s 3-5 record to close out its season and three losses to teams outside of the nation’s top 150 schools.  The Rams played just two teams in the Top 25 (both at home), beating #25 George Mason and losing to #24 Tennessee.  Worse, Virginia already had four representatives in the NCAA Tournament, and will now send a state-record five schools.

Teams playing in Round One of the NCAA Tournament for the honor of joining the larger tournament field:

Conference Winner Automatic Bids:

Texas San Antonio, Southland Conference

Alabama State, Southwestern Athletic Conference

University of North Carolina at Asheville, Big South Conference

Arkansas-Little Rock, Sun Belt Conference

At Large Selections:

Clemson, Atlantic Coast Conference

University of Alabama at Birmingham, Conference USA

Virginia Commonwealth University, Colonial Athletic Association

University of Southern California, Pacific Athletic Conference

Schools from the Eastern Half of the United States’ population divide were clearly favored over the Buffaloes because they were way out west, not because they had better basketball teams.  The NCAA selection committee is far more interested in TV ratings and catering to a school’s perceived market value than they are in measuring the actual skill level of teams selected for its tournament.

Even USC, the one team from the West that was selected for the main tourney, was a questionable choice over CU.  The Trojans, like the Buffs, had two early-season losses to lesser teams that marred an otherwise successful season.  At least in the case of USC, the Buffaloes will have a chance to prove their greater work in conference competition when they join the Trojans in the PAC-10 next season.

This snub of the CU Buffaloes will go down in Colorado history as one of the two most egregious snubs in favor of Eastern sports.  Only the Colorado Rockies’ lack of a Gold Glove winner in 2007 is worse.  (Those Rockies sported the best defense by percentage of plays defended in the long, long history of Major League Baseball.)

The true tragedy here is that, while many of those 2007 Rockies are still playing baseball and have a chance to land their deserved Gold Gloves eventually, CU seniors like Cory Higgins and Levi Knutson will never have another chance to go to the Big Dance.  Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton are perennial Gold Glove candidates.  Higgins and Knutson will move on, with Cory having a chance to play in the NBA and Knutson heading for a career in finance, his college major.

Sophomore Alec Burks has an opportunity to end up a draft pick as well, likely a first-rounder.  If Burks declares for this summer’s NBA Draft, he will also miss out on the singular experience of playing in the NCAA Tournament.

The rest of the Buffs will return next year for their first season as members of the Pacific Athletic Conference to try their luck again.  Perhaps the heightened media exposure afforded CU along the West Coast, plus another magical season, will land the Buffaloes in the NCAA Selection Committee’s good graces.  Only time (and TV money) will tell.

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Federal Judge David Doty’s Tuesday ruling was a major setback for the NFL in its ongoing labor dispute with the player’s union.  More than that, it was a striking indictment of the shady deals that NFL executives forced into league TV contracts.

In his 28-page ruling, US District Judge Doty overruled a lower court’s decision regarding $4 billion gleaned from the NFL’s contracts with various TV networks.  Under these contracts, networks were obligated to pay the league even in the event of a work stoppage where no 2011-2012 Season took place.  The NFL pressured CBS, Fox, Direct TV, ESPN & NBC to accept various concessions in return for what has been termed “lockout insurance”, most of which would be repaid to each network in future years.

Still, some $421 million of that money was set aside to end up in the pockets of NFL owners without any requirement to pay it back.  The remainder of the $4 billion would be paid back with interest by the league in 2012 & 2013.  In most cases, the league reduced the cost to networks to carry 2009-2011 NFL games in return for clauses that guaranteed payments for 2011-2012 in the eventuality of a lockout.

Most damning was the fact that owners set this money aside with no obligation to share it with players during a labor stoppage.  The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) initiated a lawsuit months ago charging the NFL with acting in the interest of the owners to the detriment of both the league and its players.  Doty wrote that the NFL pursued the “long-term interests” of owners “at the expense of its present obligations” to players.

The most telling testimony revealed in Tuesday’s ruling came from an unnamed TV network executive who highlighted the NFL’s unmatched negotiating power as the purveyors of America’s most popular sports:

“[Y]ou know you’ve reached the absolute limits of your power as a major network … [when] the commissioner of the National Football League calls you … and says … [w]e’re done, pay this or move on …. [the NFL has] market power like no one else, and at a certain point in time, they’ll tell you to pack it up or pay the piper.”

Judge Doty was able to illustrate a “Decision Tree” that traced a concerted effort on the part of the NFL to use its ill-gotten $4 billion to trump the NFLPA in negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  According to Doty’s ruling, the league worked towards “advancing its negotiating position at the expense of using best efforts to maximize total revenues for the joint benefit of the NFL and the Players.”

Those efforts to improve negotiating power in 2011 at the expense of revenue in 2009 and 2010 amounted to a violation by the league of its existing contract with the players.

This ruling has major implications on negotiations for a new CBA, as it effectively eliminates the “war chest” set aside by owners to survive a potential lockout without losing money.  There is some speculation that without this guaranteed money, the owners will be forced to sign a new CBA with the NFLPA that remains very close to the old Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring tomorrow.

A hearing will be scheduled later this week to determine the legal ramifications of Judge Doty’s ruling.  The $4 billion in lockout revenue will likely be placed in escrow, while additional damages will be assigned for the league to pay to players for its failure to operate in good faith over the last two years.

Also at issue will be documents previously left sealed to protect the privacy of the NFL’s negotiations with networks.  The league had sought to prevent documents detailing its self-serving dealings from being revealed to the media and public.  Some of those documents, along with testimony heard by Judge Doty and a lower court, were cited in this ruling and constitute no less than a black eye for the NFL’s executives and for Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Listen to the PSC Special Edition Podcast on NFL Labor Negotiations

Read the full text of Judge Doty’s ruling overriding lower court Special Master Stephen Burbank

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At Super Bowl XLV, Aaron Rodgers didn’t just step out of Brett Favre’s shadow.  He chewed it up and swallowed it.

Rodgers cemented his place among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks with another stellar passing performance in his first appearance on the game’s biggest stage.
Aaron completed 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, earning Most Valuable Player honors as he led the Green Bay Packers to their first Super Bowl title in 14 years with a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rodgers’ numbers could have been even more impressive if not for several dropped passes by his wide receivers.  Jordy Nelson dropped at least three solid passes, but also was the Packers’ leading receiver with 9 catches for 140 yards and the game’s first touchdown.  James Jones dropped a third quarter pass that looked to go for a TD if he hung onto the ball.  Greg Jennings caught four passes, two of them for touchdowns.

The Packers overcame multiple injuries during the season, and the Super Bowl was a microcosm of their year.  The Packers lost star players Charles Woodson (broken collarbone), Donald Driver (ankle), and Sam Shields (shoulder) in the first half and had to fight off a furious Steeler rally in the second half without them.

In a losing effort, the Steelers gave the Packers a tremendous fight.  Ben Roethlisberger threw for 263 yards and 2 TDs to Mike Wallace and Hines Ward, who combined for 16 catches and 167 yards.  Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 63 yards and a TD.

The Steelers actually outgained the Packers 387-338, but the difference in the game was Pittsburgh’s costly mistakes.

The Packer defense had made their living taking the ball away from opponents all season, and they did the same to the Steelers.  Pittsburgh coughed up three turnovers that the Packers turned into 21 points.  The Packers did not commit a single turnover in the game.

First Quarter
After the 150-hour-long pregame show, a seating fiasco that cost several hundred fans their spots in the stands, and Christina Aguilera’s complete butchering of The Star-Spangled Banner, Super Bowl XLV kicked off.

Following a Steeler three-and-out on the first possession of the game, the Packers dodged an early bullet.  Tramon Williams muffed the ensuing punt at his own 24-yard line when he was run into by teammate Sam Shields.  Williams recovered it himself, avoiding a potentially huge early turnover.

After the two teams traded punts, the Packers got on the board first on their second drive when Rodgers connected with Jordy Nelson with a perfect over-the-shoulder strike for a 29-yard touchdown.

The Packers had returned an interception for a touchdown in each of the last two games in the playoffs.  The pick-six trend continued in the Super Bowl.

On the next play from scrimmage after Nelson’s TD, Roethlisberger threw deep down the left sideline for Mike Wallace, but was pressured and hit on his throwing shoulder by defensive tackle Howard Green.  The ball floated in the air and was grabbed by safety Nick Collins, who returned it 37 yards and dove just over the goal line to give the Packers a 14-0 lead.

Second Quarter
Shaun Suisham kicked a 33-yard field goal to put the Steelers on the board early in the 2^nd on a drive that started at the Pittsburgh 36.

With 4:28 left in the half Roethlisberger threw over the middle for Wallace, but cornerback Jarrett Bush wrestled the ball away to grab the Pack’s second interception at the Green Bay 47.

Four plays later, at the Pittsburgh 21, Rodgers drilled a pass to Greg Jennings, who caught it at the goal line, was absolutely decked by Troy Polamalu, and held on for the touchdown.  With 2:24 left in the half, the Packers were now firmly in control with a 21-3 lead.

The Steelers desperately needed a score.  They are fortunate that Ben Roethlisberger is one of the best QBs in the business at the two-minute drill.

Big Ben hit Antwaan Randle El for a 37-yard gain just before the two-minute warning, and needed just 7 plays and 1:45 to drive the Steelers to their first touchdown on an 8-yard strike to Hines Ward.

The score was Packers 21, Steelers 10 at halftime.  The Steelers were back in it.

Third Quarter
No time to figure out what the hell we just watched from The Black-Eyed Peas.  There’s another half of football to play.

On 3rd-&-5 on the Packers’ first drive of the half, Rodgers threw a perfect pass to a streaking James Jones with nothing but daylight in front of him.  Jones dropped the sure touchdown and the Packers had to punt.

On the ensuing punt, Green Bay tight end Tom Crabtree tackled return man Antonio Brown at his own 35, but was flagged for a face mask that gave the Steelers the ball at midfield.  Replays showed that the call was incorrect, as Crabtree’s hand was under the face mask and grabbing Brown’s jersey.

The Steelers took advantage of the great field position by utilizing their ground game.  Roethlisberger, Mendenhall, and Isaac Redman gained all 50 yards in 5 plays.  Mendenhall capped the drive with an 8-yard TD run, and the once-huge Packer lead was now down to just four points.

On their next possession the Steelers drove inside the Packer 30-yard line, but Suisham badly missed a 52-yard field goal attempt and the drive netted no points.

The Steeler defense dominated the quarter, only allowing the Packers into their territory once in four possessions.

The Steelers had the ball at Green Bay’s 33-yard line at the end of the 3rd, and the momentum was totally in their favor.

Fourth Quarter
On the first play of the quarter, Mendenhall carried the ball off right tackle.  All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews hit him with a perfect shoulder tackle and jarred the ball loose.  Linebacker Desmond Bishop recovered for Green Bay, and the momentum swung again.

On the ensuing drive, facing 2nd-&-10 from the Pittsburgh 40, Rodgers threw over the middle to Nelson, who dropped a certain first down catch.  On the next play, Rodgers threw it to him again in the same spot.  This time Nelson caught it and ran the ball all the way down to the Pittsburgh 2.  After being sacked on the next play, Rodgers threw to a wide open Greg Jennings for his second touchdown to extend the lead to 28-17.

Big Ben answered by going 6-for-7 passing for 76 yards on the next drive, hitting Mike Wallace for a 25-yard touchdown.  The Steelers’ two-point conversion on an option pitch to Randle El was successful, and Green Bay’s lead was down to a field goal at 28-25.

Facing 3rd-&-10 at their own 25 on the next drive the Packers needed a clutch play from Aaron Rodgers.  He delivered with an awesome 31-yard bullet to Jennings on a seam route to the Pittsburgh 34.

University of Colorado alum Mason Crosby kicked a 23-yard field goal to extend the lead to 31-25 with just over two minutes remaining.

The Steelers returned the kickoff to the 26-yard line, but the ball was brought back to the 13 due to an incredibly stupid unnecessary roughness penalty on linebacker Keyaron Fox, who shoved Tom Crabtree to the turf after the whistle.

Needing to drive 87 yards for the winning touchdown with only one timeout left, Roethlisberger completed his first two passes for 20 yards.  He then missed his next two, leading to 4th-&-5.  His pass to Mike Wallace was broken up by Tramon Williams, the Packers’ biggest defensive playmaker in the playoffs, and the Steelers’ bid for their 7th Super Bowl title was over.

Epilogue
In 2005, Aaron Rodgers was projected as a possible #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.  The 49ers instead selected Alex Smith, and he slipped all the way down to #24, where he was selected by the Green Bay Packers.

He waited three years for his chance as he backed up an NFL legend.  When he took over the helm he didn’t flinch, performing outstandingly for two seasons.

But that legend always loomed large.

In 2010, Rodgers overcame injuries to himself and his teammates, won the final two games of the regular season to squeak into the playoffs, won three playoff games on the road, and outdueled two-time champion Ben Roethlisberger in the Super Bowl to lead the Packers back to the top of the NFL Mountain.

Rodgers will never break Brett Favre’s passing records or challenge his consecutive starts streak, and will certainly never erase him from the memory of the Packer faithful.

But he doesn’t need to.  By his own accounts, he never wanted to.

Aaron Rodgers has created his own legacy, and he’s just getting started.

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

America’s greatest unofficial holiday is once again upon us.

Super Bowl XLV (45 for those of you who never learned Roman numerals) will be showcased at the palatial estate of Jerry Jones – Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.  This year’s matchup promises to be a very physical battle between two of the NFL’s most historically successful franchises.

No franchises are more synonymous with the Super Bowl than the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.  The Steelers will make their record-tying (with the Dallas Cowboys) 8th Super Bowl appearance, and their six Super Bowl victories are the most all-time.

The Packers won the first two Super Bowls behind Coach Vince Lombardi, whose name now adorns the NFL’s Championship trophy.  With five league championships in the 1960′s, and a record 12 all-time, Green Bay, Wisconsin became known as “Titletown”.

The Steelers and Packers ranked #1 & #2 in the NFL respectively in points allowed in 2011 (Pittsburgh 232, Green Bay 240).  This is the first time in 28 years that the top two scoring defenses in the league have met in the Super Bowl (SB XVII: Redskins/Dolphins).

Let’s not forget the offenses, though.  Super Bowl XLV will showcase two of the league’s best young quarterbacks, as well as strong running backs and some of the league’s most exciting wide receivers.

The Quarterbacks
Ben Roethlisberger & Aaron Rodgers have come here from opposite ends of the spectrum.

Roethlisberger has gone from the doghouse to the penthouse this year.  He began the season on a four-game suspension after being accused of sexual assault by a 20-year old woman, the second time in the last few years that such claims were made against him.  Although he was never charged with a crime, Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Roethlisberger for the first six games of 2010.  The suspension was later reduced to four games after Roethlisberger had gone “above and beyond” in his efforts to change his ways, according to Goodell.

After the Steelers went 3-1 in his absence, Roethlisberger returned and passed for 3,200 yards, 17 TDs, and only 5 interceptions in leading the Steelers to the AFC North title.  Big Ben went 19/32 for 226 yards and 2 TDs to lead his team past the Ravens in the Divisional Playoff.  He then rushed for a touchdown as the Steelers defeated the Jets for the AFC title a week later, but managed only 133 yards passing and threw 2 interceptions without a touchdown in that game.

Three years ago, Aaron Rodgers took on the unenviable task of replacing the legendary Brett Favre in Green Bay.  The Denver Broncos have never found the same success since John Elway retired, nor have the Miami Dolphins since the departure of Dan Marino or the 49ers since Steve Young.

The Packers saw a rare smooth transition from aging superstar to young stud.

Rodgers has been nothing short of brilliant since inheriting Favre’s throne, throwing for 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons as starter.  He fell just 78 yards shy of that mark in 2011 after missing a start and parts of games due to two concussions that he suffered this year.

For his career, Rodgers has thrown 87 touchdown passes and just 32 interceptions, with a completion percentage of 64.4%.  He combines a strong arm and smart decision-making with tremendous mobility, having 13 rushing TDs in the past three years.

After an injury-plagued regular season, the Packers finished 10-6 and made the NFC playoffs as the #6 seed with a win over the Bears on the final day of the regular season.

Rodgers threw 3 TD passes in a first-round win in Philadelphia.  He then tore apart the Atlanta Falcons with one of the greatest passing performances in postseason history, going 31/36 for 366 yards and 3 more TDs, and adding a rushing TD in a 48-21 blowout of the NFC’s top seed.  Like Roethlisberger, Rodgers wasn’t quite as sharp in his Conference title game in Chicago, throwing 2 interceptions and no TDs.  He still passed for 244 yards, and ran 7 times for 39 yards and a touchdown to lead the Packers to a 21-14 win and their first Super Bowl berth in 13 years.

Offense
When it comes to the running game, the Steelers would have had a significant edge six weeks ago.  Green Bay’s starting running back, Ryan Grant, was lost for the season on opening day, and their ground game struggled in his absence.  Late in the season, however, the Packers found a diamond in the rough named James Starks.

Starks, a rookie out of Buffalo, missed most of the year on the physically unable to perform list and had little impact during the regular season.  In the Wild Card game against the Eagles, though, he exploded for 123 yards on 23 carries to help the Packers advance.  He racked up 74 yards and a TD in the Pack’s NFC title win in Chicago.

The Steelers running game is lead by Rashard Mendenhall, who rushed for 1,273 yards in the regular season, finishing 7th in the league.  Mendenhall scored 2 TDs in the Steelers’ playoff win over Baltimore, and shredded the Jets defense for 121 yards and a TD in the AFC Championship.

Both offenses feature outstanding receivers.  Both clubs have an excellent mix of great young players & veteran talent.

Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward is a Hall-of-Famer in waiting.  He caught 59 passes and 5 TDs in his 13th NFL season, and scored a TD in the playoffs against the Ravens.  Green Bay’s Donald Driver, a 12-year veteran playing in his first Super Bowl, caught 51 passes and 4 TDs in 2011, and has added 12 more catches in the playoffs.

Those two vets have been replaced as the #1 receiver on their respective teams by exciting young playmakers.  Second-year man Mike Wallace for Pittsburgh and fifth-year man Greg Jennings for Green Bay are blazing fast and have the hands to back it up.  Jennings caught 76 passes for 1,265 yards and 12 TDs.  Wallace almost matched him with 1,257 yards while catching only 60 passes, scoring 10 TDs.  Jennings has had the better postseason, catching 17 passes in three games, while Wallace has been held to just 4 catches in two games.  Wallace may be due for a huge game.

The offensive line edge goes to the Packers, as the Steelers front five has been decimated by injuries all season.  Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey still claims that he will play despite a severe ankle sprain that took him out of the AFC title game.

Defense
“Defense wins championships.”  It’s a cliché, but it fits in this Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLV will feature, arguably, the two best linebacking corps in football.

The Steelers’ group of James Harrison, James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, and LaMarr Woodley combined for 281 total tackles and 29.5 sacks.  The Packers’ group of Clay Matthews,  A.J. Hawk, Desmond Bishop, and Erik Walden had 222 total tackles and 20 sacks.  The charged, aggressive Matthews logged 13 1/2 of those sacks.  In the playoffs the Packers have racked up 10 sacks in three games, while the Steelers have 7 in two games.

The Steelers have the edge in run defense, having allowed a mere 62.8 rushing yards per game in 2010.  Their run defense is anchored by defensive line members Ziggy Hood, Casey Hampton, and the man with the best beard in NFL history, Brett Keisel.

The Steelers led the NFL with 48 sacks.  The Packers were second with 47.

The Packers have the larger, better pass rushing D-line with 340 lb. Ryan Pickett, 337 lb. nose tackle B.J. Raji, and 305 lb. Cullen Jenkins, who combined for 14.5 sacks.  The Steelers’ front 3 managed only 7 total sacks.

Both teams also boast strong pass defenses.  Pittsburgh’s secondary is lead, of course, by the great Troy Polamalu, who is joined by Ryan Clark, Bryant McFadden, and Ike Taylor.  The Packers are led by veteran DB Charles Woodson, along with Charlie Peprah, Nick Collins and Tramon Williams.

The edge in pass D goes to the Packers, who picked off 24 passes in the regular season and six more in the playoffs.  Three of those playoff picks came from Williams, including a last minute INT off of Michael Vick that sealed a win in Philly, and the pick-six against Atlanta that effectively broke the Falcons’ back.  B.J. Raji’s super-sized pick-six off of Caleb Hanie sealed the NFC Championship game against the Bears.

Prediction
Clearly, with all of the great defenders in this game, there will be a lot of hard hits and ample bruises to show off at the end.  But it will be the offense that finds a way to execute in the crunch that wins Super Bowl XLV.

The Packers probably will not have a lot of success running the ball, so their hopes will lie on how well Aaron Rodgers plays in his first Super Bowl.  Rodgers is definitely the best quarterback that the Steelers have faced in the playoffs.  With two weeks of preparation, Rodgers should have a good idea of how to attack the Steeler defense.  But will his lack of Super Bowl experience be a factor?

The Steelers also are likely to have trouble running the ball, so Ben Roethlisberger will have to be sharper than he’s ever been to win the game.  The Pack’s outstanding linebackers and DB’s will make Big Ben pay for any mistake that he makes.  The Steelers have the experience, playing in their third Super Bowl in six years and having won two.  But the Packers will be their toughest opponent of the three.

In my opinion, Aaron Rodgers will shine and the Packer defense will force Roethlisberger into costly mistakes.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is coming back to Titletown, USA.

Packers 27, Steelers 20

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