2011 Playoff Pickery -- Super Bowl XLV

Playoff Picks Straight-Up

Joe: 6-4
Aaron: 5-5
Tom: 5-5


Playoff Picks Against the Spread

Tom: 5-5
Aaron: 4-6
Joe: 3-7


Green Bay (-2.5) v. Pittsburgh

Joe: I'm actually really fond of this Packers team -- and I'm really REALLY fond of Aaron Rodgers picking up a Super Bowl ring less than three years removed from when the "legitimate" sporting press positively excoriated Packers management for being foolhardy enough to bet on him over Brett Favre. Schadenfreude like that doesn't come along every day. So why am I not more excited about the game, then? Has the massive interest vacuum that is the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers made it THAT hard for me to care? Has my overreliance on hating the Patriots left me unable to root for anything after they've been vanquished? Here's what it comes down to: that vaunted Steelers defense has actually been downright lenient at times (first half against Baltimore, second half against New York), and I think the Packers will be able to make them pay. Now wake me up next seas-- aw, DAMN IT!

Pick: Packers 31, Steelers 20


Aaron: And, on the flip side of the coin, I'm really turned off by this Steelers team. Maybe it's the Ben Roethlisberger "(alleged) rapist-to-redemption" storyline which was brilliantly lampooned here. Maybe it's the ridiculous -- and oft-repeated -- idea that "character" matters more inside the Steelers organization than anywhere else in the NFL. As if morality would even be mentioned if this team was 3-13. Maybe it's the tired narrative equating the Steelers success as some sort of salve for the economically-ravaged residents of working-class western Pennsylvania. Would even the most die-hard fan trade a steady job and financial security for a Steelers win on Sunday? Hell, maybe it's because of Wiz Khalifa. I can't remember the last Super Bowl in which I couldn't make a pick -- right or wrong -- with a lick of conviction. Either team could win close, in a blowout or in a shootout. The Steelers defense has made the stops when they've needed to in the postseason and since Joe's got Green Bay...

Pick: Steelers 28, Packers 27