Opinion

Why the Packers will lose the Super Bowl

By Ashley Goettl

February 3, 2011

There is some “game” that is to be played on Feb. 6.  If you lived anywhere except in the state of Wisconsin (or Pennsylvania) you will know that life does go on. This will be a key lesson that the Green and Gold faithful may have to remember come Feb. 7. 

But we do live in Wisconsin and there is not a day, or should I say hour, that goes by when there is not at least some chit-chat about this team called the “Packers.”  Unfortunately, (or laughably) the Packers will once again disappoint the land of cheese. 

The most glaring issue that separates the Packers from the Steelers is experience.  The Steelers have 25 players that have played in at least one Super Bowl.  The Packers have just two, Ryan Pickett and Charles Woodson.  Now experience is something that should not be underestimated, and will certainly come into play in the ‘down to the wire’ contest, which most analysts have predicted this game will be. 

This brings up another critical argument to set up the Packers’ failure.  While Aaron Rodgers has been stellar during the postseason thus far, he has struggled in close contests.  He is a dreadful 3-15 in games that are decided by four points or fewer.  Now I know this hasn’t been a factor in the playoffs because the Packers have literally dominated, but don’t be so certain that the Steelers will lay down for “belt-boy” Rodgers. Speaking of the belt, the Packers truly want to make Wisconsin seem like a far-off land with their obscure rituals that have caught the public’s eye for their sheer oddness.  Between Rodgers’ belt flash, a fan base called cheese-heads, or B.J. Raji’s end zone “dance,” the rest of the nation must be wondering what is happening in the Badger state.

There is; however, one debate that has yet to be settled: who has better hair, Clay Mathews or Troy Polamalu? To me, Mathews looks like a scraggily man from the Stone Age, and Polamalu maybe from the late 1970s.

Although Packers fans think that Mathews is the next best thing since sliced bread; remember that is was Polamalu, not Mathews, who won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Setting looks aside; there is also conventional wisdom as to why the Steelers will win.  The Steelers had the No. 1 ranked defense in the regular season.  And as the old adage goes, “offense wins games, defense wins championships.”

The Green Bay Packers have made history by becoming the first No. 6 seed in the NFC to reach the Super Bowl.  But look for the Cinderella story to end as Big Ben and the Steel Curtain race to the endzone before the clock strikes midnight, as history will repeat itself with the winningest franchise in the NFL, bringing their Lombardi trophy collection to seven.  The prediction: Steelers 24, Packers 14.

Ashley Goettl is an alumna of UW-River Falls. She was editor of the Student Voice from fall semester 2011 to spring semester 2013.