AFTER THE AFTERMATH

I guess I didn't realize how lucky I was prior to SB XLV as, early this morning, unable to sleep, I came across an article (by whom I now forget) laying out not 1, not 3, not 5 but ELEVEN reasons why the Packers WOULD, not could, beat the Steelers. Well, you'd probably say he now looks pretty smart but, a shaky six point win, in spite of winning the turnover "battle" 3-0, in no way merits taking those ELEVEN reasons seriously. One break the Steelers' way and Green Bay fans are writing this clod today doubting both his sanity and his heritage. Should the Steelers have recovered the initial fumbled punt it could easily have been them, not the Packers, taking an early lead. With the momentum turned at that point the entire game could have been different. Remember, Green Bay did not score on their first possession. Having already been scored upon who knows what the Green Bay defense would do on the Steelers next possession with the momentum blowing in the wrong direction. 


And, again, despite greatly unbalanced performances (3 Steelers turnovers, wasted Steelers time outs, and a poor coaching decision to attempt a 50+ yard field goal giving Green Bay great field position), the game was at its closest, 28-25, with 7:34 left. Further, even after a gutsy Packers drive the Steelers were within a TD and extra point of victory, 31-25, with sufficient time remaining for a not-out-of-the-realm-of-possibility comeback based on Roethlisberger's history of such heroics; a total of 26 4th quarter or OT game-winning drives in his career, many in big games situations. So really, Mr. Football Writer, there were ELEVEN reasons the Packers WOULD defeat the Steelers? I think not. The sixth-seeded flavor-of-the-month team and their newly-anointed future HOF QB should feel quite fortunate to have escaped Jerry World with their asses intact and headed to Disney World.