The Game to End the Season is Set

The guest list has been made and invitations now accepted for Super Bowl XLV. Steelers and Packers emerged from a very, very strange championship Sunday.

The Packers seemed to be dominating the game right from the start, but the scoreboard really never matched. Before Jay Cutler got hurt, he was terrible. Then Todd Collins was worse and even though the Bears were forced to go with their 3rd QB, Caleb Hanie, the Packers still needed to pick off a pass in the red zone in the final minute to seal their victory. That's the third time in their last four games they've needed that.

The Bears D allowed touchdowns on two of the first four drives of the games, although the 2nd of the two began just 44 yards from paydirt as the Pack had a significant field position advantage. More than half the Packers yards came in the game's first 19 minutes, it may not seem like it but the Bears defense was pretty darn good and the biggest play of the game was probably Brian Urlacher's interception of Rodgers at the six-yard line. Not so big because of the turnover, but actually b/c Urlacher allowed himself to be tackled by Rodgers.

Urlacher was approaching midfield and while he made a move on Rodgers who had the angle on him, he couldn't stay on his feet when Rodgers got his hands on his legs. The Bears first play after that touchdown saving tackle was backup QB Todd Collins first postseason snap in 2 years and only the third postseason game he's played in since starting his career back in 1995. Two plays later he was picked off, although it was reversed, but the bottom line is the Bears got no points and really didn't even change field position all that much.

Just an aside on the reversed INT, the refs really blew it on that one. The ball bounced before Packers S Nick Collins got a hand on it, bounced again after that and they also allowed him to get up and run even though Bears WR Earl Bennett had obviously made contact with him which should have meant he was down. All three things were missed by each official and Lovie Smith was thoroughly disgusted to be forced to throw his challenge flag to get the call corrected.

Bottom line is the game was a defensive struggle and Packers defense slightly outplayed the Bears with Raji's interception and touchdown return essentially the difference. Rodgers and Caleb Hanie engineered the same number of TD drives. That's nuts.

The late game was equally strange with the Steelers taking the opening kickoff and holding the ball for more than 9 minutes and on their 15th play Rashard Mendenhall punched it in. The Jets did nothing the rest of the first half until Mark Sanchez was sacked and the subsequent fumble was returned for a touchdown and a 24-0 Steelers lead.

That came with less than 90 seconds until halftime, but the Jets actually got the momentum heading into the break with a field goal and then took the opening drive of the second and scored on a 45-yard bomb to former Steeler Santonio Holmes. It was a grind the rest of the way, with the Jets actually dominating the game as they closed to 24-19.

But the Steelers still were able to play keep away late and win the game. Heading into the final drive of the game, Roethlisberger's 2nd half numbers looked like this: 1-3 with an interception, two fumbles, which he recovered, although the second one went for a safety and he was sacked twice. But to his credit and to the Steelers coaches credit also, they tried to win the game by asking him to make two crucial throws and he made them both, first to Heath Miller on a surprise 2nd down pass play, then to Antonio Brown to convert a third down with an empty backfield on a play that fooled the Jets, who said after they definitely expected a run.

So it's Steelers-Packers for all the marbles. (Did I mention we will be in Dallas - broadcasting the entire day from radio row!!)

A couple of quick notes -
- Both teams advance w/o getting a single point from their offenses in the 2nd half of their games.

- Both teams got a touchdown from their defenses.

- Big Ben & A-Rod were anything but special combining to go 27-49 for just 377 yards with zero TDs and 3 INTs.

Here's a pair of images from Steelers-Jets to etch into your mind.


And no doubt on today's show Matt & I will be in heavy discussion about the Jay Cutler injury, decision not to continue and the reaction from his teammates and others in the league.

Start with two articles on Cutler...
Michael Wilbon, ESPN, with a rip-job of Cutler
Jim Trotter, SI.com with the other side of the story

Looking forward to the conversation, listen in 6-10a.
Follow me on twitter
Become a fan on facebook