SI's Peter King called Packers-Steelers in September

[hawaiiansteel]

Super Bowl XLV: SI's Peter King called Packers-Steelers in September

Posted: Sunday, January 23, 2011 9:38 pm


Peter King (Sept. 2010 prediction): Steelers 33, Packers 27

The Green Bay Packers have come a long way since assuming their backs-to-the-wall position with two weeks to go in the NFL season.

But, back in September, Sports Illustrated's Peter King figured his pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers to be the team lined up opposite Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 in Dallas was a long-shot.

"THE STEELERS? Really?" King wrote in SI's NFL Preview edition. "The team with the suspended starting quarterback? The one that traded away a Super Bowl MVP? The club that couldn't beat the Chiefs or the Raiders in 2009? The defensively mortal Steelers? The geezer Steelers? Green Bay in the NFC you can understand, especially after Aaron Rodgers's phenomenal preseason.

"But Pittsburgh? The football gods are laughing, and the karma gods are weeping."
Well, nobody is laughing anymore. (In fact, Packers fans might take issue with King's preseason Super Bowl outcome prediction: Steelers 33, Packers 27).

His two picks are headed right where he thought they'd be on Feb. 6, 2011 -- at Cowboys Stadium in Irving, Texas -- for Super Bowl XLV. But even King laughed at the idea back in September.

"But Super Bowl predictions, at least mine, have nothing to do with morality or justice," King said. "They have little to do with the previous year's form, either. The Super Bowl favorite on Labor Day is usually nowhere to be found come February."

http://host.madison.com/sports/football ... 002e0.html (http://host.madison.com/sports/football/professional/article_48610134-276d-11e0-9adc-001cc4c002e0.html)

[NWNewell]

Kept thinking about that article all weekend. Pretty impressive.

Here's to hoping Peter King's Superbowl prediction is 100% correct! :Beer

[Crash]

No no no no.....

He don't get credit, he hedged and picked the Pats before the playoffs.

:moon

[Steeler Shades]

Super Bowl XLV: SI's Peter King called Packers-Steelers in September
Do you have a link to the actual article where Peter King made this prediction?
I heard he made it last Spring and then revised it in the Fall to the Patsies and GB. However I have been wrong once or twice. 8)

[ScoreKeeper]

With all due respect to Mr. King, I turned the Hat Trick.

I said they would be 3-1 to open; would lose to the Rats.
I said they would be 12-4 and win the division.
I said they would face the Pack in the Super Bowl.

And no, I am not BS'ing in the least.

Honest to Goodness.

[papillon]

With all due respect to Mr. King, I turned the Hat Trick.

I said they would be 3-1 to open; would lose to the Rats.
I said they would be 12-4 and win the division.
I said they would face the Pack in the Super Bowl.

And no, I am not BS'ing in the least.

Honest to Goodness.

You don't have enough posts for me to believe you! :P

:tt2 :tt2 :tt2

Pappy

[hawaiiansteel]

Do you have a link to the actual article where Peter King made this prediction?



yes, here it is:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... z1Bz7kgaac (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1173841/2/index.htm#ixzz1Bz7kgaac)

September 06, 2010

Steelers 33, Packers 27

My philosophy? Past performance is no guarantee of future results, August is packed with false positives, and there's no morals clause for the postseason. Expect the unexpected—and look for a Black and Gold party, Big Ben included, in Dallas in February. It just feels right

THE STEELERS? Really? The team with the suspended starting quarterback? The one that traded away a Super Bowl MVP? The club that couldn't beat the Chiefs or the Raiders in 2009? The defensively mortal Steelers? The geezer Steelers? Green Bay in the NFC you can understand, especially after Aaron Rodgers's phenomenal preseason. But Pittsburgh? The football gods are laughing, and the karma gods are weeping.

This should be a year in which the Steelers get their comeuppance for treating alleged sexual assault more lightly than a violation of the league's substance abuse policy: Pittsburgh retained star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, whom two women accused of forcing himself on them, while whacking star receiver Santonio Holmes, ignominiously traded to the Jets for a fifth-round pick after his second substance-policy violation.

But Super Bowl predictions, at least mine, have nothing to do with morality or justice. They have little to do with the previous year's form, either. The Super Bowl favorite on Labor Day is usually nowhere to be found come February. Note the last three NFL champions:

• The Giants, in the 2007 season. They were coming off an 8--8 2006 campaign in which they had lost six of their last eight and very nearly got their coach fired. As a 10--6 wild card in '07, New York beat the Bucs, the Cowboys and the Packers on the road in the playoffs and knocked off the 18--0 Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

• The Steelers, 2008. They'd gone 10--6 the year before but lost twice at home to Jacksonville in the last four weeks, including a playoff stinker. In '08, behind a stifling defense, Pittsburgh went 12--4 and beat Arizona in a thriller in Super Bowl XLIII.

• The Saints, 2009. They'd finished the previous season 8--8, with the league's 23rd-rated defense, but last year rode Drew Brees's arm to the franchise's first championship, beating the favored Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

Maybe you saw one of those coming. I doubt it. That's because it's impossible to forecast factors such as injuries, emerging players and the true ease or difficulty of a schedule. Regarding injury, I'd argue that the Steelers' two most valuable defensive players are strong safety Troy Polamalu, the definition of a roaming playmaker, and defensive end Aaron Smith, the most underrated player of his generation. (Ends in the 3--4 system who don't pile up sacks—Smith has just 44 in 11 seasons—get no credit, though defensive coordinator D!ck LeBeau will tell you that Smith's prowess against the run makes the Pittsburgh defense work.) Polamalu and Smith each were limited by injury to five games last year. There's no certainty, of course, that those two will last 16 games in 2010, but if they do, the Pittsburgh defense will be as stout as ever.

On offense the Steelers' MVP might be Roger Goodell. At press time it appeared likely the commissioner would reduce Roethlisberger's suspension from six games to four for good behavior—Roethlisberger spent the summer kissing babies and signing every autograph within miles at training camp. Byron Leftwich and/or Dennis Dixon should be able to navigate a friendly first-month schedule (Atlanta, at Tennessee, at Tampa Bay, Baltimore) and hand Roethlisberger a 3--1 team when he returns. A six-game suspension? That would be trouble, obviously.

I like three young players to emerge in Pittsburgh: versatile second-year defensive end Ziggy Hood, who was a terror in training camp; second-year man Mike Wallace, who'll replace Holmes as the big-play wideout opposite Hines Ward (wait until you see him cut and turn upfield); and rookie center Maurkice Pouncey, whose speed and power should bolster a weak interior line.

One thing about picking Pittsburgh does concern me. Last year, when coach Mike Tomlin implored his players to reach inside themselves and pull out that championship something, the Steelers lost to Kansas City. Then to Baltimore. Then to Oakland and Cleveland. I worry about a coach who can't draw that sense of urgency out of his men.
But I was impressed by what I saw of the Steelers on my training-camp visit to Latrobe, Pa. One play in particular. James Harrison, the 32-year-old linebacker, positioned himself as the gunner in punt coverage. Rookie Antonio Brown from Central Michigan lined up for the return. Harrison, the NFL's defensive player of the year in 2008, is not paid to rocket past kids desperate to make the roster in the dog days of camp. But that's exactly what he did. Harrison bolted downfield and veered in, unblocked, toward Brown. Flustered, the kid juggled and then fumbled the punt. Tomlin howled with delight. "Kid got so nervous his arms wouldn't work!" the coach yelled. Later, talking about the veteran linebacker, Tomlin said, "Now that's a football player. At bed check here in camp, he'll be recopying his notes from the meetings during the day. He wants to get it perfect."

If Super Bowl picks were scientific, we'd take the defending champions every year and be right 15% of the time. (In the last 20 seasons there have been three repeat champions.) Super Bowl picks have to be made on feel. When 32-year-old former All-Pros are running 90 miles an hour on punt coverage in August, it's a good sign. In a league with so many unknowns in Week 1, Harrison's scaring the tar out of some poor kid from Central Michigan is the kind of metaphor I like.

February 6 in Arlington, Texas: Pittsburgh 33, Green Bay 27.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... z1Bz7kgaac (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1173841/2/index.htm#ixzz1Bz7kgaac)

[Iron Shiek]

Yup I remember reading this article and thinking wow, he's really high on us. But he saw something in camp that caught his eye. Lets hope he continues to be correct. :tt1

[ScoreKeeper]

With all due respect to Mr. King, I turned the Hat Trick.

I said they would be 3-1 to open; would lose to the Rats.
I said they would be 12-4 and win the division.
I said they would face the Pack in the Super Bowl.

And no, I am not BS'ing in the least.

Honest to Goodness.

You don't have enough posts for me to believe you! :P

:tt2 :tt2 :tt2

Pappy
Pappy, we've posted together for many, many years. :wink:

I knew that post would go over like a lead balloon but it's all true my friend. :D

[fordfixer]

With all due respect to Mr. King, I turned the Hat Trick.

I said they would be 3-1 to open; would lose to the Rats.
I said they would be 12-4 and win the division.
I said they would face the Pack in the Super Bowl.

And no, I am not BS'ing in the least.

Honest to Goodness.
Link?