It's Super Bowl week. Except this year the hype that usually surrounds the big game seems a little bit less than previous years. I don't know if that's just me but I feel like Super Bowl week has always been just as big as game-day itself and this year it just doesn't seem that way to me. OK, let's get the easy stuff out of the way first. I will be rooting for the Packers and for a couple of reasons. One and most importantly, I just despise the Steelers and pretty much always have. It's pretty plain and simple. You can say what you will about my opinion but I'm sticking to it. That's really the main reason I am rooting for the Pack on Sunday. However, I have turned into a Aaron Rodgers fan and am definitley rooting for him to overcome the shadow of Brett Farve in Green Bay and getting a Super Bowl Ring this year would definitely help that progress. I think a lot of fans in Green Bay are well on their way to getting over Farve but I'm sure there still some sting leftover that still lingers in a lot of fans' hearts. As a Giants fan, however, I probably logically should be rooting for the Steelers since the Pack pretty much kicked the Giants out of the playoffs this year but that's another story. However, the Packers are playing a lot like the 2007-2008 Giants...winning every game on the road to get to the Super Bowl and facing the juggernaut team that everyone thinks is gonna run all over them. So in that regard I want to see the Packers win and prove everyone wrong just like my G-men did in 2007-2008.
But before I go on to make my actual prediction on the game this little section is for you Steelers "fans". Listen, I respect all of you "born and raised" fans who actually have some legit ties to rooting for the Steelers. My beef is not with you guys. My respect ends for those "bandwagoners" who jump on every single year come playoff time and start spilling their guts out with posts about Steelers and whatnot. Through whatever source of media they choose to express themselves (i.e. Facebook) they just repeat what other fans say in order to pose as real fans of the team but ask them one thing about the team that only a true fan would know and they stutter their way to the crazy house. I apologize to all the real fans out there but these bandwagoners cause me to like the Steelers less and less every year. Now you might say, well aren't you becoming a bandwagon fan of the Packers then? And my response to that is absolutely not. Honestly, I could care less who wins the Super Bowl when my team isn't in the big game. Therefore, still being the fan of football that I am I have the choice of rooting for whoever I want. The keyword to pay attention to there is "ROOTING". I'm not becoming a fan of the Packers at all, if anything I am jealous that they are there and not my G-men. After the Super Bowl is over with I could are less about the Packers and the city of Green Bay. There is a HUGE distinction between rooting for a team and being a fan of a team. I think some of these Steelers "fans" need to grasp of that concept before they start running their mouths at me.
All that being said my prediction for the game is simple. Pack win. It will be a close game but I honestly think people are underestimating that Pack defense and it's ability to make plays. Aaron Rodgers is unstoppable right now (so is Big Ben). However, I am getting that same feeling I did with my G-men in 2008 and I think this game is gonna be a lot more interesting than people may be thinking. These two teams are very evenly matched when it comes to a lot of aspects of the game. The key for me is if the Pack can get a running game going against the number two ranked Defense in the league. If the Pack can do that then the sky is the limit for them to tear open the Steelers weaknesses on D (yes they have a weakness if you can exploit it).
Originally at the beginning of the season I had predicted the Packers would make the Super Bowl and what do you know they actually made it. That being said, I gotta stick with my original pick. Final Score 35-30 Packers.
Hope everyone enjoys the game!
-R.N.N.
@ryannnelson87
rnelson0187@gmail.com
