Packers win Super Bowl

John Riordan

A CONSISTENTLY unpredictable NFL season experienced the perfect climax last night as the Green Bay Packers flirted with disaster before eventually staving off a brave Pittsburgh Steelers fightback to secure their fourth Super Bowl at Arlingon, Texas.

A scrappy decider culminated in a gripping fourth quarter in which the Steelers came desperately close to overturning what had been an 11-point deficit at half-time. But Green Bay held out for a 31-25 victory, their first in 14 years.

MVP Aaron Rodgers was good without being spectacular but given the adversity he and his side have faced throughout a rollercoaster campaign, the Packers quarterback can justifiably enjoy shaking a couple of monkeys off his and his teammates’ backs.

The ‘Titletown’ moniker for one. The Vince Lombardi Trophy goes home to Green Bay as coach Mike McCarthy had promised but they’ll have to build on their promise if they’re going to match the six titles of the vanquished Pittsburgh. Rodgers can also now look forward to a career spent away from Brett Favre’s shadow.

“I never felt like there was a monkey on my back,” a beaming Rodgers told ESPN as the celebrations continued long after the final play of the game. “I always felt like I had the support of the team and the staff. I told the organisation back in 2008 that they wouldn’t regret their decision.

"It's what I dreamt about as a little kid watching Joe Montana and Steve Young and we just won the Super Bowl."

In what proved to be a decisive spell in the first quarter, Green Bay took control of the game with two touchdowns in the space of 24 seconds and then never fell behind despite Pittsburgh’s heroic second-half comeback. Jordy Nelson and then safety Nick Collins, who ran 37 yards after he intercepted Ben Roethlisberger, ensured that earl 14-0 lead.

After Pittsburgh finally got on the scoreboard with a second quarter field goal, Rodgers found Greg Jennings whose TD opened the gap to 18 and the signs were ominous for the Steelers - no side having ever overcome anything more than a 10-point deficit at the Super Bowl.

But as Green Bay battled to overcome yet more injury setbacks, Pittsburgh re-emerged from the half-time break with the sort of resolve that has come to define their season. Roethlisberger came alive despite a knee injury and threw to Hines Ward for a TD before Rashard Mendenhall ran for an eight-yard touchdown to make it 21-17 going into the final quarter.

Crucially, Mendenhall fumbled early in the fourth to hand possession back to Green Bay, culminating in a Greg Jennings TD that made it 28-17.

But Pittsburgh weren’t done yet and Mike Wallace’s TD was followed by Randal El’s two-point conversion, reducing the gap to three. However, Rodgers inspired one last drive to set up Mason Crosbie for a close range field goal before his defence snuffed out any hope of what would have been an incredible Steelers comeback.

The game itself wasn’t alone in capping a strange season that could be a lot stranger next year if a player lockout occurs. On top of a disastrous half-time show from the Black Eyed Peas and fluffed lines from the national anthem performance of Christina Aguilera, some 400 ticket holders were left out in the cold.

There may have been 103,219 in attendance but a bizarre miscalculation saw the fans miss out completely as sections in temporary seating areas at Cowboys Stadium were not completed in time.

Two hours before the game, workers were frantically trying to fix the sections or get the fans "relocated to similar or better seats," valued at $800. The NFL found alternate seating for 850 of the 1,250 fans affected. The 400 who were not able to be seated were given a refund of triple the face value.

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/39jkwOk9w20/post.aspx

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