Packers Favorites by 2.5

[Jooser]

Just heard on Sirius NFL this morning. Thoughts? I like it actually.

[grotonsteel]

I am loving it...I prefer Steelers being underdog....They seem to play better like that...


It will be poetic justice if Hotel wins a SB in Dallas....

[AkronSteel]

Thats completely fine with me. Tomlin and his staff can play the disrespect card and the team can play as underdogs. They always play better that way anyways. If the Steelers remain underdogs for the next two weeks I would expect to see them come out on fire and guys like Hines Ward to have huge games.

[flippy]

Seems like the wrong line to me. But the line is just to even out the betting.

[Iron Shiek]

Take the money line and win some extra money.

I say we win by 5 or more.

[ikestops85]

GREAT!! I hope the line moves more in favor of the Packers. We definitely play better as underdogs.

We were pretty big favorites against the Pats, Saints, and Jets this year and we lost them all. We will take any advantage we can get.

[Oviedo]

The Packers are the real deal. What everyone is missing is that their defense is winning these games for them not Rodgers. Their defense is awesome and will be the best we have faced all season.

Getting #7 will be a tough challenge.

[flippy]

Heard Skip Bayless say that more money is bet on the Packers than anyone else in the league. And the handicappers had the Chicago/GB game rated a pickem, but moved the line to GB+3 to start because they knew so much money would be bet on the Pack.

So accordingly, the Steelers are a .5 favorite if the expected bets on the Steelers/Pack are even.

[Sugar]

The Packers are the real deal. What everyone is missing is that their defense is winning these games for them not Rodgers. Their defense is awesome and will be the best we have faced all season.

Getting #7 will be a tough challenge.

Agreed, Dom Capers has designed a house of horrors that will be tough to navigate. They will be hungry to win.

Of course, it's going to be a little awkward for me because I know AJ Hawks dad and brother and will be seeing them a lot in the next few weeks.

[NW Steeler]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

[NWNewell]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

I don't give much weight to prior SB experience. NO over INDY, NYG over NE, .......

[Iron Shiek]

Here is a great breakdown as to why Packers are favorites by Chad millman, betting writer on espninsider.com. Basically in Pro Bettor projections, Packers have a higher Power Rating. Power Rating, Shmower Rating, we will win!

I'd post the link but you have to have the insider access:


More than unemployment figures. More than exports and imports. More than inflation or housing prices and the cost of the new iPhone with Verizon service, the most dissected number in the country over the next two weeks will be the point spread for Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

So, let's dissect, shall we?

All week long, heading into the AFC and NFC Championship Games, I had been getting e-mails from bookmakers and analysts predicting what the likely spread in any of the possible matchups would be. Consistently, in a Green Bay Packers-Pittsburgh Steelers showdown, the Packers were anywhere from a 1.5- to a 3-point favorite. And, sure enough, after the Packers dispatched the Chicago Bears in the NFC title game, most books were speculating that Green Bay would open as a 2.5-point favorite over the Steelers (and a four-point fave over the New York Jets but, well, that is moot now).

However, this is how mercurial and fickle point spreads and the public and bookmakers' interpretation of the public can be: After the Steelers ran up 24 points on the Jets in the first half -- confusing Mark Sanchez with blitzes and making the Gang Green defense look like it was suffering from gangrene -- one of the sharps' favorite offshore books, Pinnacle, posted the game as pick 'em.

This made a lot of wiseguys I know giddier than Steven Tyler judging 16-year-olds on "American Idol." They smelled opportunity. "I am shocked anyone would not see that Green Bay is power-rated higher than Pittsburgh," Fezzik e-mailed me late Sunday night.

After the Jets piled on 19 unanswered points and came within some Brian Schottenheimer playcalling brain farts of potentially scoring even more, bookmakers re-evaluated. And by the time the game opened it was back to Green Bay minus-2 (at the Hilton) or Green Bay minus-3 (several spots offshore).

I tweeted out the number last night and was immediately met with dismay, confusion and anger, as if I had made the spread myself. Some samples: "I'll take Pitt!"; "This isn't justifiable!"; "How can a six seed be favored over a two seed?!?!?!"

Well, the truth is, as far as that last point is concerned, it happens more frequently than you would think. According to Bruce Marshall of The Gold Sheet, the Indianapolis Colts, as the No. 2 seed out of the AFC four years ago, were favored over the NFC's top-seeded Bears. And, in Big Ben's first Super Bowl, the Steelers were the No. 6 seed playing against No. 1 seed Seattle but came into the game favored.

The other truth is, despite all the protests and love for the Steelers, most of you want the Packers to be favored. That is how you've been betting during the playoffs. Against the Philadelphia Eagles, despite being an underdog, Green Bay got all the money from the public. Same thing against the Atlanta Falcons, when the sharps piled on and took the Packers, too. Even in Chicago in the NFC title game as favorites, the Packers got all the love from the public. This happens a lot in the NFL: teams get hot and fans want to bet them, no matter what the point spread is. "The perception is that Green Bay has handled everyone and has done it on the road," said Pete Korner of the linemaking consulting group The Sports Club. "The bettors have played them hard in every game and that is one of our telltale flags for making them favorites."

Added Teddy Covers: "The market is just more impressed with three road wins by the Packers than two sloppy home wins by the Steelers. Also, at least early bettors are thinking that Green Bay's offense is helped by the fast track in Dallas. The Steelers thrive in sloppy conditions. The Packers looked unstoppable in Atlanta."

For fun, let's do something that actual wiseguys do when dissecting the spread: let's actually dissect the team. There's a reason Fezzik was buying like mad when the game was listed at pick 'em. During the regular season the Packers suffered six losses. However, each one was a peculiar aberration. The franchise-high in penalties against the Bears that cost them a win in Week 3; overtime losses to the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins; a three-point loss at Atlanta in a game in which Aaron Rodgers fumbled at the Falcons' 1-yard line; losses to the Detroit Lions when Rodgers had been knocked out and to the New England Patriots when Matt Flynn was forced to start; plus the 15 guys on injured reserve. Since Rodgers came back from a concussion against the Giants in Week 16, a game the Pack won 45-17, they have steamrolled the Bears, the Eagles, the Falcons and the Bears again.

But, truly, it's the Packers' defense that handicappers point to as the reason they are power-rated so much higher. A couple of weeks ago I did a podcast with Paul Bessire of predictionmachine.com, who pointed out that it was Green Bay that had the second-best passing efficiency rating for defense in the league. In the playoffs, the QB rating allowed by Green Bay, a stat wiseguys love, is just 64, nearly 20 points better than the Steelers. And in one more game than Pittsburgh, the Packers have given up just eight more total points.

As Fezzik pointed out to me last night, this Green Bay team "is a juggernaut."

It's also the Super Bowl favorite.

[aggiebones]

Anyone have a stat on who's won the most SBs, the favorite or the underdog?

[aggiebones]

Nice betting article:
http://www.sportsuntapped.com/superbowl ... ory-14098/ (http://www.sportsuntapped.com/superbowl-betting-and-pointspread-history-14098/)


Looks like the underdog has taken 8 of last 12, including the Steelers once. :)

[NW Steeler]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

I don't give much weight to prior SB experience. NO over INDY, NYG over NE, .......


But the fact that we have a roster full of guys that have been there once, some twice, it can't hurt, right?

[ScoreKeeper]

Line just moved to 3.

I like it.

[NWNewell]

Line just moved to 3.

I like it.

wouldn't be surprised to see it up around 5 by game time.

[ScoreKeeper]

Line just moved to 3.

I like it.

wouldn't be surprised to see it up around 5 by game time.
Me either. The bigger the line, the more I like it.

[fordfixer]

Steelers embrace underdog status in Super Bowl

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=A ... r-steelers (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Aof3qJo7vL5H4Aqk1ppOt_9DubYF?slug=ap-super-steelers)

PITTSBURGH (AP)—The mighty Pittsburgh Steelers, equipped with a record six Super Bowl titles, a 14-4 record, the No. 2 AFC seed and a veteran roster on the verge of three championships in the past six seasons, are underdogs for Super Bowl XLV.

Really?

Don’t worry. It’s not you. It doesn’t make much sense to the Steelers, either.

But here Pittsburgh is, fresh off its 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Sunday night, installed by the Las Vegas oddsmakers as about a three-point underdog against Green Bay (13-6), the NFC’s No. 6 seed.
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“I kind of don’t understand what everybody sees that we don’t see,” Steelers defensive back Ike Taylor(notes) said.

For a team that wasn’t picked by many to win its division, told it would get off to a rocky start without its suspended quarterback for the first four games and fought through it all to get to the franchise’s record-tying eighth Super Bowl, being the underdog is a role the Steelers are eager to embrace.

“I think we do our best when we’re underdogs,” Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke(notes) said. “People were talking at the beginning of the season, how we were going to go 6-10 or 7-9. And how two years ago, when we went to the Super Bowl in ’08, we had the toughest schedule in NFL history, ‘Are they going to be able to make it out of this schedule?’

“I think when you put our backs against the wall, when you tell us that we’re an underdog and we can’t do something, that’s when we fight and we’re at our best.”

Maybe Hoke is on to something. The franchise’s most recent run of championships began when it slipped into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, upset three teams with better records on the road and beat the NFC’s top seed, Seattle, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL, on Feb. 5, 2006.

Nineteen players from that team are on this roster in a season in which it played its first four games with a third-, and then a fourth-string quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger(notes) was suspended by the league until Week 5, and backup Byron Leftwich(notes) sustained a knee sprain during the preseason. That meant Dennis Dixon(notes) and Charlie Batch(notes) quarterbacked the Steelers to a surprising 3-1 start. Four months later, they’re packing their bags for Dallas.

“We like to go into every game as underdogs,” receiver Mike Wallace(notes) said.

But maybe—at least in Taylor’s eyes—it’s wishful thinking on the part of Pittsburgh critics.

“I feel like, deep down, in the back of people’s heads, they really don’t want us to win,” Taylor said. “People don’t like successful people. Just the tradition we have here, the success we have here, I just feel that a lot of people don’t want us to succeed. They’re getting tired of seeing the same people over and over again. I guess they want to see somebody new.

“Until that happens, I’m just glad to be a Pittsburgh Steeler.”

And why not? Taylor was drafted by a team that has advanced to the AFC championship game in half of his eight seasons. Add that run to the lore of the Steel Curtain teams of the 1970s—a unit that won four Super Bowls in six years, becoming the first true dynasty in the Super Bowl era—and the Steelers have quite the tradition for a bunch of underdogs.

“You come here and see the pictures on the wall,” Hoke said. “Joe Greene and all those great guys on defense. Terry Bradshaw on offense, Franco Harris, there’s too many to name. You know there’s a standard here, and you know that winning is an expectation. You’re not hoping to win—you’re expecting to win here.”

The Steelers maintain they’re not yet considering their legacy and how, with another title, they would pull to within one of their franchise ancestors of 30 years ago.

Sounds as if they’ve adopted the mantra of their perpetually composed head coach. Only 38, Mike Tomlin can win his second Super Bowl in only his fourth season.

Tomlin faced the tough task of winning over his players when he was hired as somewhat of an unknown 34-year-old after the 2006 season. He had to replace the popular Bill Cowher, too, which was not easy.

If Pittsburgh beats the Packers in two weeks at Cowboys Stadium, though, Tomlin will have doubled Cowher’s one Super Bowl title in less than one-third of the time.

“Going into training camp, we knew the odds were stacked against us a little bit in that first month without Ben,” Hoke said. “But (Tomlin) kept us focused, kept that chip on our shoulder when people were counting us out a little bit. I think we played with a chip on our shoulder the first four weeks. And to be able to go 3-1 those first four games, knowing that we had Ben coming back, we put ourselves in a good position to be where we are now.”

It shows.

[Sonny]

Terrible reasons if you ask me.

It says they steamrolled the Bears twice. Really? 10-3 and 21-14 against one of the worst 2 seeds i've ever seen? They steamrolled the Eagles, 21-16?

What kind of a "juggernaut" goes 10-6?

They explain their 6 losses. Overtime or not, they lost to the Redskins?!? To the Dolphins at home? "Juggernaut"?

They lost to the Lions, THE LIONS, without Rodgers. Good excuse. We didn't have Ben for 4 games and we beat 3 teams that are much better than Detroit.

Franchise high in penalties cost them a win against the Bears? We had a franchise high in penalties against the Raiders, and we abused them.

Is this the same defense that Ben had the best game of his career against? The same D that allowed 51 points to Kurt Warner? Help me out here. Is the Pack's D that much different than last year? Rodgers had a field day against us too, but some guy with long curly hair was out and everyone picked apart our D last year, including that legend Bruce Gradkowski. Their D is overrated and has been picked apart before.

Do they have any running game to speak of? So they think Rodgers, by himself, is going to handle LeBeau and our defense. Is that right?

It may be a good thing we are underdogs, I just really don't understand why. Someone help me out here and give me better reasons than these pathetic reasons why they are such a "juggernaut" that lost SIX games.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

That list of reasons is laughable. Disecting the play of the teams?? Sorry pal, not for the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl is the one sporting event every year that has a huge amount of money bet by the casual sports fan. When you have 5 million guys named Joe trying to decide who to drop their 20 bucks on, that can significantly impact the money bet.

Over the past three weeks the Packers have received more hype than the Steelers. They played playoff week one and won on the road - the Steelers had a bye. They won in what was deemed a huge upset over Atlanta week two. Rodgers put up fantastic numbers and was held up to everyone on SportsCenter as the next elite QB. The Steelers got some hype for their game but eventually just won a game that they were supposed to win at home. The Pack had way more hype leading up to this past weekend but neither team really came out as huge media stories. The story coming out of the GB/Chi game was Cutler, and the Steelers storyline is about Rex finally being shut up.

So here you go Mr. Casual Fan. You don't really follow football much but you do watch one game a year with your buds out of tradition and a reason to drink. You have been watching a lot of ESPN leading up to the big game because you don't want to come off sounding like an idiot in front of your friends.....who are equally idiotic. Time to pick.....who are you going to take? Who is your new favorite team until the final whistle?

I'm guessing that it is the team who you have seen as the most highly regarded team - especially now that your other favorite team New England is out? You are betting Green Bay.

[Sonny]

I figured the casual bettor/fan out a long time ago. Basically, just take the team with the QB that has the best stats/highlights/fantasy football points recently, no matter the running game or defense, and there is your favorite. Now that Brady is out, Rodgers is the one they are drooling over. The same reason when Manning was on fire against sub-par teams back in 03 and 04, the Colts went into Foxboro as FAVORITES!! Even though the public knew damn well New England had his number. Doesn't matter. The QB that has been lighting it up the most stat-wise will always get love from Vegas/the casual fan.

It's a joke. Fantasy Football has toyed with the mind of the ignorant fan.

I bet Marino and his 48 TDs were favorite against Montana in 84. Montana, Mr. Big Game himself, only outgunned Marino 38-16. Hopefully "Big Game Ben" will do the same.

Underdog or not, I will be TOTALLY disappointed in our guys if we lose to the Pack. We are the better team, period. If it is a shootout and Ben has a Bradshaw-like Super Bowl in a win, go ahead and put him in Canton. The more I think about it, this game is not only to decide the best team, but the best quarterback in the league, too. Brady and Manning are yesterday's news. No matter what they do in the regular season, they have to prove themselves in January to retake the throne from Ben or Rodgers.

[AngryAsian]

Terrible reasons if you ask me.

It says they steamrolled the Bears twice. Really? 10-3 and 21-14 against one of the worst 2 seeds i've ever seen? They steamrolled the Eagles, 21-16?

What kind of a "juggernaut" goes 10-6?

They explain their 6 losses. Overtime or not, they lost to the Redskins?!? To the Dolphins at home? "Juggernaut"?

They lost to the Lions, THE LIONS, without Rodgers. Good excuse. We didn't have Ben for 4 games and we beat 3 teams that are much better than Detroit.

Franchise high in penalties cost them a win against he Bears? We had a franchise high in penalties against the Raiders, and we abused them.

Is this the same defense that Ben had the best game of his career against? The same D that allowed 51 points to Kurt Warner? Help me out here. Is the Pack's D that much different than last year? Rodgers had a field day against us too, but some guy with long curly hair was out and everyone picked apart our D last year, including that legend Bruce Gradkowski. Their D is overrated and has been picked apart before.

Do they have any running game to speak of? So they think Rodgers, by himself, is going to handle LeBeau and our defense. Is that right?

It may be a good thing we are underdogs, I just realy don't understand why. Someone help me out here and give me better reasons than these pathetic reasons why they are such a "juggernaut" that lost SIX games.


Great points made. This is why I think we'll once again prove everyone wrong.

[The Sodfather]

Love the underdog role.................


:tt1 :tt1

[SidSmythe]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

Charles Woodson & Ryan Pickett both have Superbowl Experience

[Wolfhound45]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

I don't give much weight to prior SB experience. NO over INDY, NYG over NE, .......

It provides a tremendous edge if you can take advantage of it. I think our coaching staff can do just that.

[NWNewell]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

I don't give much weight to prior SB experience. NO over INDY, NYG over NE, .......

It provides a tremendous edge if you can take advantage of it. I think our coaching staff can do just that.

I think that it is "possible" that players that have never been to the superbowl may exhibit some nerves at the beginning (the whole "the game is too big for him" thing).... but I think that those nerves will settle by the end of the first quarter for sure.

So there is some possibility to execute better than a nervous team in the beginning.

However, most coaches at this level, that can get their teams to the Superbowl, will be able to have their teams ready. And I don't think their will be much of a delta in the nervousness of either team, and definitely not for very long.

I'll concede that there MIGHT be some advantage, but I don't think it is much of an influence.

[Wolfhound45]

The Packers have ZERO players with SB experience. ZERO. That will have some impact, I believe. That said, I too believe that this will be the toughest matchup we have had all year and we will have to actually play a full 4 quarters to win #7. I realize that we turtled in the second half yesterday, but there were some mistakes made that we can't make on Super Sunday.

I don't give much weight to prior SB experience. NO over INDY, NYG over NE, .......

It provides a tremendous edge if you can take advantage of it. I think our coaching staff can do just that.

I think that it is "possible" that players that have never been to the superbowl may exhibit some nerves at the beginning (the whole "the game is too big for him" thing).... but I think that those nerves will settle by the end of the first quarter for sure.

So there is some possibility to execute better than a nervous team in the beginning.

However, most coaches at this level, that can get their teams to the Superbowl, will be able to have their teams ready. And I don't think their will be much of a delta in the nervousness of either team, and definitely not for very long.

I'll concede that there MIGHT be some advantage, but I don't think it is much of an influence.

Only disagreement I would have with you is length of time. If you can jump on them like the Steelers did the Jets in the AFCCG, then you can keep them down for a half. But you are right, after a half any NFL team will be calm enough to work themselves back into the game. But that one half may be all the edge that we need.

[hawaiiansteel]

No respect? Underdog status could benefit Steelers

By Scott Brown, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, January 25, 2011

http://files.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2011-01-24/0125sttaylor-a.jpg

Taylor sacks Sanchez
Chaz Palla | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review


It remains to be seen whether Vegas oddsmakers did the Steelers a disservice by installing the Green Bay Packers as the favorites in Super Bowl XLV.

They certainly did coach Mike Tomlin a favor by setting the early line at three points.

That will serve as one of many rallying points for the Steelers as they prepare for a Super Bowl that pits two of the NFL's most storied franchises against one another Feb. 6 in Dallas.

"I feel like we're always underdogs, even when they've got us covering the point spread," veteran cornerback Ike Taylor said Monday after team meetings at Steelers headquarters.

The respect card is perhaps the most overplayed one in sports, but it has worked for the Steelers.

In 2008, they took exception to the notion that a brutal regular-season schedule would be their undoing.

They promptly went 12-4 and won three postseason games on the way to a sixth Super Bowl title.

This season, they noticed when some pundits picked them to finish no better than third in the AFC North because of an aging defense and an absentee quarterback for the first four games.

Now they are one victory away from winning a third Super Bowl title in six years.

"I kind of don't understand what everybody sees that we won't see," Taylor said. "We talk about the local media having us going 8-8."

Maybe Taylor and the Steelers should be thanking those who predicted they would finish no better than .500.

They have not played particularly well in recent years when there have been high expectations -- or at least higher than usual for a franchise whose players walk past six Lombardi Trophies on a regular basis.

Conversely, the Steelers have been at their best when few outside of the organization have given them a chance of making the kind of run that will extend this season into February.

The Steelers, however, aren't underdogs any more than Bill Gates is.

And Taylor even acknowledged that when talking about the us-versus-everybody-else mentality that the Steelers embraced this season.

"People don't like successful people, regardless of how you make it. Just the tradition we have here, the success we have here, I just feel that a lot of people don't want us to succeed," Taylor said. "They're getting tired of seeing the same people over and over again. I guess they want to see somebody new."

Looks like they'll have to wait at least one more year for that to happen.


3 players to watch

Clay Matthews

Packers OLB

Pedigreed player has been productive, as well as disruptive, since the Packers took him in first round of 2009 NFL Draft. The son and namesake of the former Browns linebacker, Matthews finished fourth in the NFL this season with 13 1/2 sacks.

Bryant McFadden

Steelers CB

Off week will give McFadden, who has been hampered by abdominal and hip injuries, extra time to heal. McFadden was part of an Arizona Cardinals secondary that got torched in a wild-card playoff loss to the Packers last season.

Aaron Rodgers

Packers QB

Has thrown 10 touchdown passes and just three interceptions in four career postseason games. He is one victory away from winning as many Super Bowls in Green Bay as Brett Favre.

4 questions with Steelers nose tackle and Texas native Casey Hampton

What are your early thoughts on playing the Green Bay Packers?

"Their offense is real good; their defense is pretty much a mirror image of our defense. It's going to be a tough game, but at the end of the day, if we do what we're capable of doing, it's all about us. We should be OK."

Do you consider the Super Bowl a homecoming despite Galveston's lack of proximity to Dallas?

"Oh yeah, it's to the crib. Texas is my home. It's not the house-house but it is Texas, so it's going to be good."

Do you think that would anger the Cowboys if you won another Super Bowl in their stadium?

"Man, I ain't worried about what the Cowboys think, It's all about us. If they have a problem, they should have made it."

Did you have any doubts going into the season that you could get this far?

"No, because at the end of the day, we know we've got a veteran team, we've got a great defense. Our offense is young, but we knew as long as they came along, we'd be OK."

QUOTABLE

Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, on the decision to throw a pass on third-and-6 near the end of the AFC Championship Game:

"Coach (Mike Tomlin) said 'Win the game.' We had a play set Thursday night, that that's the play we would use and Ben (Roethlisberger) made an unbelievable throw and Antonio (Brown) got open. You can always play safe and run, punt, put your defense back out there but it's not as nice as kneeling down."

Right tackle Flozell Adams, on returning to Dallas where he played for 12 seasons before signing with the Steelers:

"I keep saying I don't care about where the Super Bowl is as long as it's the Super Bowl. It's like a great goal of mine has been accomplished, not fully accomplished because we haven't won yet. Now, we've got to go out there and win it."

Nose tackle Chris Hoke, on Mike Tomlin's imprint on the team when he took over as head coach in 2007

"When he first came in, he was hard core. In camp, we were in pads a couple of times a day, we were getting after it. He wanted to see who would and who wouldn't. He wanted to see the personality of this team. And once he knew the personality of this team, he was able to work with us."

BY THE NUMBERS

6 -- Postseason games Steelers outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley needed to record 10 sacks, the fewest of any NFL player since sacks became an official stat in 1982.

7 -- The previous record for fewest postseason games to reach 10 sacks, held by Chicago Bears defensive end Richard Dent, the MVP of Super Bowl XX

100.4 -- Rushing yards per game the Packers averaged during the regular season, ranking 24th in the NFL

503 -- Passing yards Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had in a 37-36 win against the Packers last season, a career-high. Roethlisberger and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers combined for 886 passing yards in that game.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_719672.html#ixzz1C4KBJ1xV