I have poured over as many games, highlights and read as much as I could possibly think of doing without a divorce from my wife in the past week or so.

Along the way.. I have been jotting down notes of areas of concern and things we can exploit.

Thought I would mention the ones I thought were dominate.

Concerns.

1. RB blitz pickups. Much like our defense and stunts, the Steelers try to isolate the backs in mismatch situations.. either getting a big on them or matching them up with speed rushers..

It will be vital that the pass protection in from the back field be spot on like they have for much of this late season run. I think we will struggle to run effectively in this game and it will put more pressure here.

I expect to see MM roll the TE's in the backfield heavy as well in pass protection.

2. We still struggle with stacked sets and pre snap movement, albeit not as bad as we did last season. I expect the Steelers to test this early and often.. make the Packers play some off coverage and keeping there WR free on the line of scrimmage.

I expect Dom to have some wrinkles in the game plan to combat this.. I think Woodson is counted on more in coverage than being used in pressure packages.

Should be a good chess match all game long.

3. Stopping the run between the tackles. I think this will be telling.. can we stop the run effectively without dropping an additional man into this zone.

The defensive line has to play a stout front all game long and rotate well, we are going to need more than the top 4 playing stout Sunday.. yes Wilson and Wynn.. that is you both.

The interior of the Steelers line with Pouncey is still very effective, if he can't go, this becomes less of an issue. I know the reports have been leaning more to him being "out" but IMO.. this element to Sunday will be huge if he is a go.

What to attack.


1. Their corners. I don't care how much they write about the Steelers defense.. but you can attack this defense on the edges. This is not a very good group and rely on the front of the defense to minimize their exposure.

I expect a couple early double moves to force LeBeau to adjust his scheme for the day.. bring some of the heat off the pressure packages and making him drop additional guys into coverage to allow the Steelers safeties to play over the top and protect the corners.

2. Attack their offensive Tackles. The Jets IMO did a poor job (mostly because they lacked the talent) to force the tackles to drop quickly on the wide speed rushes. This patchwork group can be exposed with wide speed rushes setting them up for inside moves and gap stunts when they focus on getting out their to protect the edge.

Additionally their backs / TE's past Spaeth are not very adapt in picking up the pass rush.. get the tackles bailing out wide and force that second layer of pass protection to step into the holes.

If we force Miller to chip, we have won another battle.. as he and Ward are the chain movers.

3. Force Mendenhall and Redman move East and West. These are two solid downhill runners, force them to not square up to the line of scrimmage and it will go a long way to containing this running game.

The media and talk about how Ben is the key to stopping the Steelers, while Ben can hurt you, I think we can contain this offense if we pop these backs early and minimize the effectiveness of the running game and it will pull down a good chunk of their offense.

Point all you want to the 09' matchup with Ben lighting us up.. then look at the problem that plagued us from that point on.. communication or lack of it from the nickel and dime backs in handling the stacked sets and preSnap movement.. we won't have have the issue this time around with Woodson, Williams, and Shields spending so much time together this season along with Peprah and Collins in the secondary.. and the wildcard of Bush blended in.


I have a couple pages of notes built up.. but these keep popping up more than any of the others I have seen.

I expect us to move the ball effectively.. and I expect the Steelers to force us to adjust at the line of scrimmage more and more if the game stays close.. the will set up for another finish where the secondary will have to make a late stop to seal the game.

There.. now that I have hogtied my thoughts.. what are your keys to the game.

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There are 3 major things that concern me:

1. Slow Start/Nerves-I'm worried that since it's the SB the Packers will come out nervous. I've noticed that Rodgers can sometimes come out jumpy and inaccurate to start the game. We can't afford a 1st quarter lull this game IMHO. The Packers need to come out sharp, and most importantly take care of the football.


2. Bringing down Ben-In order for the Packers to win they need to wrap up on Ben and take him to the ground. We did a great job of getting to him last year, and I think we will do an even better job this time around, but we need to finish otherwise he will kill us and extend drives.


3. Stopping the run-The Packers need to get physical with the Steelers line and most importantly tackle well. The Jets took themselves out of last weeks AFC championship game in the first half by doing a really poor job tackling. If we stop the run early we set the tone and can tee off on Ben. Ben will throw INTs if pressured. He has all post season.


The Packers should be able to spread the Steelers D out with multiple receiver sets. I expect them to be able to throw against the Steelers defense as Pittsburgh has struggled against spread teams. They lost to both teams they played this year that were spread teams(NE and NO).

If the Packers take care of the football and get off to a good start

GB 31 PITTSBURGH 24

If they don't

PITTSBURGH 28 GB 24

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1. Score more points

I'm gonna suspend the idiots who say something referring to scoring more points than the other team, or making sure the other team scores less points.


Edit, LMAO ... okay after my post, didn't see Porforis's post.

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I know there has only been a couple of replies, but I am surprised I havent seen special teams listed as any of the concerns.

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Besides "Goalpost Crosby", our special teams has been anywhere from okay to great lately. Masthay has been huge, and if he plays like he's been playing for the second half of the season we have nothing to worry about. Punt coverage has been pwning it up too.

I think we should do what Lawrence Taylor use to - send Prostitutes over to their hotels Saturday night to keep them up all night.

Actually - I just think we are better, and if we contain their running game; we should be in good shape. For all the talk of their SB experience, their skilled players have none except for Hines. You suppose they may drop a few? Also we aren't fielding street free agents and Jarrett Bush anymore in the secondary.

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Oh god, imagine the media flurry if Big Ben was accused of having sex with one of these hookers.

In my mind at this point, the "slow start/case of the nerves" is big.
If Rodgers comes out all nerved up and is throwing the ball high, this could lead to an early interception or two.
It's important for the Packers to keep their defense off the field as much as possible.

I'm not worried about Rodgers being nervous. He has had nerves of steel the last 6 weeks(playing elimination games each week). I know it's the big game, but I still expect the same A-Rodge coming into this game- confident, smart, and quick decisions.

I too am worried about us stopping the run. I actually disagree that Mendenhall is a downhill runner. He loves to use jukes, spins, and finesse over hitting the hole. He can make big plays just like Big Ben if we don't wrap him up.

The Steelers are a great, tough D. However, they are not a great, fast D. Our spread O, as has been mentioned before, SHOULD have a field day against their LB's and DB's. Polamalu can account for at least one big play a game but even his play may be hampered due to an injured leg.

If we stop the run this game could be a blowout, but I doubt it. I think it will be another close, heart attack game.

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