Super Bowl Preview Part II

Tuesday, I took a look at the offenses of Green Bay and Pittsburgh. Today I look at two of the strongest Defenses in the National Football League. Hair seems to be the theme of these two Defenses. Green Bay has the long locks of Clay Matthews and the underrated hair of A.J. Hawk while the Steelers have the mane of Troy Polamalu and the Viking style beard of Brett Keisel. Let's break them down.

Defensive Line

During the regular season, Pittsburgh's Defense was the best run-stopping team in the NFL. They barely gave up 1000 yards for the entire season. They have to be licking their chops at the prospect of taking down Green Bay's running attack. Green Bay had a good line as well, giving up about 115 yards per game during the regular season, and the Bears and Falcons combined for only 128 yards on the ground in the last two playoff games. Rashard Mendenhall is going to be a guy they really have to key on in this game. B.J. Raji has been absolutely great during the post-season and the Green Bay lineman had a pick-six against the Bears. Both of these lines will pressure the opposite QB but what it really comes down to is the...

Linebackers

Clay Matthews has been an absolute beast this post season. James Harrison has been a force of nature as well. With 3.5 and 3.0 sacks, respectively, these guys will be a big part of their team's plans when it comes to putting pressure on the passing game. Clay will also be called upon to help shut down Mendenhall when he does get past the lineman. A.J. Hawk has been a bit of a presence too. While he hasn't been in the backfield as much as Matthews but he has nine solo tackles. He could have more than that in the Super Bowl alone, depending on how the Green Bay line affects the running game of Pittsburgh.

Defensive Backs

Tramon Williams and Sam Shields have been absolutely eye-popping this post-season. They have combined for five interceptions (one pick-six) 16 tackles and a forced fumble. In the Conference Championships, both passing defenses performed pretty well, giving up 236 (GB) and 219 (Pit) yards. The Jets passing Defense was able to shut down the Pittsburgh passing game and Green Bay should be able to do the same. Troy Polamalu will be looking to fly in from the outside to get to Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay's offensive line will have to be on its toes to keep Rodgers safe.

So, what will the outcome be? I honestly feel that this game is going to be one of the best Super Bowls of my lifetime. Maybe that's because I think that the Packers are going to roll. I would not be surprised if the Packers Defense kept the Steelers out of the endzone for the entire game. That being said, I think the final score will be 24-9 in favor of the Green Bay Packers. Yes, I know that Ben has been here before and it is a new experience for Aaron Rodgers, but Green Bay has played five straight playoff games. First, they had to win their last two regular season games just to get into the playoffs and they have flown through the NFC side of the playoffs to get to the Super Bowl. The Packers are the best team in this game.