In a way, it was fitting that two of the Packers' key players spent the second half watching from the Cowboys Stadium sidelines. Considering the number of injuries the Packers dealt with this year, it just made sense.
Especially because, ultimately, it didn't matter that Donald Driver (ankle) and Charles Woodson (shoulder) couldn't play. Just as was the case all season long, the Packers stepped up, found a way to get the job done and held on for a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XVL.
Losing key players to injury was nothing new for the Packers, who made it to the Super Bowl despite placing 15 players on Injured Reserve during the regular season.
Woodson, who had yet to win a ring during his 13-year career, struggled to address his teammates during halftime. Turned out, what he was unable to say had just as much impact as any kind of pep talk could possibly have.
"We've been a team that's overcome adversity all year," wide receiver Greg Jennings said. "Our head captain goes down, emotional in the locker room. Our No. 1 receiver goes down, more emotions are going, flying in the locker room. But we find a way to bottle it up and exert it all out here on the field."
Woodson, Driver and the 103,219 fans stuffed into Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones' shrine to extravagance watched as the Packers fought off a valiant Steelers rally during the final two quarters to become just the second No. 6 seed (the 2005 Steelers, ironically, were the first) to win the Super Bowl.
"We just kept battling," head coach Mike McCarthy said. "We had some adversity, we lost some guys to injury and we had some rough plays there. In the third quarter with the penalties, our guys just kept fighting. I can't say enough about them."
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named Most Valuable Player after completing 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, finishing with a 111.5 passer rating.
"He played great," McCarthy said. "We put everything on his shoulders. He did a lot at the line of scrimmage for us against a great defense. He did a hell of a job."
His biggest throw came late in the fourth quarter, a 33-yard throw down the middle to Greg Jennings on 3rd and 10 from the Green Bay 25. The play kept alive a drive that ended with a 23-yard field goal by Mason Crosby that put Green Bay ahead by six with 2:07 to play.
Early on, the Packers looked like they were going to run away with a victory. Rodgers quickly put the Packers on the board with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson.
"I lined up and they came up and bumped me and Aaron gave me the signal," Nelson said. "I had the same route, but it was more a signal, 'I am going to alert you if are open, I am going to throw it to you.' I ran the route and he threw the ball out there and we started the game off right."
On the very next play from scrimmage, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's pass intended for Mike Wallace was picked off by Nick Collins at the Pittsburgh 37 and returned for a touchdown that put Green Bay up 14-0 with 3:20 left in the first half.
The Steelers finally got on the board in the second quarter on Shaun Sulsham's 33-yard field goal but again, Rodgers went to the air, finding Jennings for a 21-yard touchdown pass that gave the Packers a 21-3 lead with 2:24 left in the half.
The momentum shifted, though, on the next drive as Roethlisberger led his team on a seven-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a eight-yard touchdown throw to Hines Ward. Shaun Sulsham's point-after made it a 21-10 game heading into halftime.
"We created the bed we had to lay in it a little bit," Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin said. "We had to ball our fists up a little tighter."
The third quarter belonged to Pittsburgh. Rashard Mendenhall again cut into the Packers' lead with an eight-yard touchdown run with 10:19 left in the quarter, bringing the Steelers within four points at 21-17. On defense, Pittsburgh held the Packers to just 16 yards in four drives, only one of which was more than three plays.
Momentum shifted back in the Packers' in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter when Mendenhall fumbled when he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage by Clay Matthews. Desmond Bishop recovered at the Green Bay 38 and Rodgers moved the team down the field and hit Jennings for an eight-yard touchdown to make it a 28-17 game.
"I saw Troy (Polamalu), but it was more I was looking to the left and coming back to the right side, and had a good idea from a couple of plays before that Greg was going to be open on a corner route, and he made a good catch," Rodgers said. "I almost threw it too far."
On the next drive, Roethlisberger found Wallace for a 25-yard touchdown throw. The Steelers converted the two-point conversion on an option pitch to Antwaan Randle El to bring Pittsburgh within three.
After Crosby's field goal, the Steelers had one final chance. Roethlisberger began the drive at his own 13 with 2:07 and one time out remaining. He connected with tight end Heath Miller for 15 yards and a first down but after a short pass to Hines Ward, Roethlisberger's next three passes fell incomplete and Rodgers knelt twice to clinch the Packers' fourth Super Bowl and 13th NFL Championship.
"They did a great job of taking away deep things and taking away the outside," said Roethlisberger, who finished with 263 yards on 25-of-40 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. "You’re kind of stuck with very limited options there with that much time and no timeouts left. We just had to try to do what we could do."
For Rodgers, the game's final drive brough back memories of a 2009 meeting between the two teams, when Roethlisberger threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Wallace as time expired.
"It’s a helpless feeling," Rodgers said. "I was just praying our guys would come up with one more stop."
GAME SUMMARY: Packers 31, Steelers 25
Pittsburgh 0 10 7 8—25
Green Bay 14 7 0 10—31
First quarter: GB -- Nelson, 29 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 3:44; GB -- Collins, 37 interception return (Crosby kick), 3:20.
Second quarter: PIT -- Sulsham, 33 field goal, 11:08; GB -- Jennings, 21 pass from Rodgers, 2:24; PIT -- Ward, 8 pass from Roethlisberger (Sulsham kick), 0:39.
Third quarter: PIT -- Mendenhall, 8 run (Sulsham kick), 10:19.
Fourth quarter: GB -- Jennings, 8 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 11:57; PIT -- Wallace, 25 pass from Roethlisberger (Sulsham kick), 7:34; GB -- Crosby, 23 field goal, 2:07.
Total yardage – GB 338 (50 rushing / 288 passing) PIT 387 (126/261); Penalties – GB 7-67, PIT 6-55; Time of possession – GB 26:35, PIT 33:25.
Passing: Packers -- Rodgers 24-39-304, 3 TD. Steelers – Roethlisberger 25-40—263, 2 TD, 2 INT. Rushing: Packers – Starks 11 for 52. Steelers – Mendenall 14 for 63. Receiving: Packers – Nelson 9-140, TD; Jennings 4-46 2 TD; Jones 5-50. Steelers – Wallace 9-89, TD; Ward 7-78, TD; Randle El 2-50. A – 103,219.
