By: Isha “Ice” Cole
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On September 9, 2010, Week One of the 2010 NFL season began, and football lovers all over the nation rejoiced. Sadly, another awesome season has finally wrapped up, which means no more Monday or Sunday night football to look forward to for months. The ’10 season was nothing less than thrilling, filled with hard hits, fights, last minute victories and unfortunate injuries. Though everyone loves the playoffs, this is when bittersweet emotions arise with the realization that there is only one game left.
After weeks of battling, two dynamic teams made it through to represent the NFC and AFC conferences in the big game. The 6-time Superbowl winning Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) and the 12-time NFL champions the Green Bay Packers (10-6) will go head to head at Super Bowl XLV (45) on February 6, 2011. Kick off is at 6:30 PM ET live from Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The 2010 postseason was exciting as favored teams like the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints were taken out. Many fans were surprised, but this is the playoffs, and anything can happen! The road to the Super Bowl was not an easy one for either the Steelers or the Packers, but that made it through.
The Steelers opened up this season without their star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who served a four game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The Steelers had their share of injuries during the regular season and now as they head into the Superbowl they are without center Maurkice Pouncey who was injured during the AFC Championship .
Also, Steelers linebacker James Harrison was slammed with fines by the NFL totaling to over $100,000 for various hits during the season. The AFC North number one seed Steelers played a tough divisional game versus their rival the Baltimore Ravens winning 31 to 24. They also beat the New York Jets in the AFC Championship 24-19.
The Green Bay Packers suffered a lot of injuries during this season, with more than ten players on injured reserve list and a host of other key injuries – including four which occurred during their match up with the Washington Redskins. The Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered two concussions during the season and missed one game.
The Packers met the Philadelphia Eagles in a Wild Card match up winning by five and then trampled over the Atlanta Falcons 48 to 21. In the NFC Championship, the Packers went up against the Chicago Bears and pulled out the win 25 to 17.
At the end of the day, both teams fought hard to be in the position they are in right now.
This Super Bowl should be one for the books with two very skilled quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger, at the helms of the teams. In the post season, Aaron Rodgers averaged a better quarterback rating then Roethlisberger, averaging 263.3 yards per game.
The Packers and the Steelers have strong defenses, but the Steelers are the number one rushing defense in both the regular and post season. With great players such as Troy Polamalu, Clay Matthews, Rashard Mendenhall and James Starks playing this game, no one knows what will be the outcome. All that is certain is Superbowl 45 will be just as intense as the entitre 2010 season has been.
As always, it is tons of fun being on Twitter during big events, concerts, awards shows, and of course football games! Check out some of your favorite celebs tweeting NFL playoff talk:
Jeremy Piven @jeremypiven – Not the way we wanted to end the season. Our boy 54 and the D stepped up, congrats to G.B.
Naughty by Nature @naughtybynature – Green n white aint better than Black n Yellow….. STEELERS
Alyssa Milano @Alyssa_Milano – #BlackAndYellow #Steelers
Chrisette Michelle @ChrisetteM – I would like to apologize to all my friends who were rooting for NYJ. It’s a sad day in GREENLAND. guess I’ll be wearing a STEELERS JERSEY!!
Taraji P. Henson @TheRealTaraji – HONGRY JACK!!!! #Steelers #Black&Yellow
Conan O’Brien @ConanOBrien – Remember what I tweeted back in August? “I’m picking the Packers and Steelers for Super Bowl XLV.” Too bad there’s no way to prove it.
LeBron James @KingJames – I’m not much of a Pittsburgh Steelers fan but I got much respect and love for Mike Tomlin! Good for him
Danica Patrick @DanicaPatrick – I am quite happy about the bears and jets today. hoping for a bears steelers superbowl!
Dwyane Wade @DWadeOfficial – Great year by my bears..we build from here..congrts to GB for there road to superbowl
Ellen DeGeneres @TheEllenShow – I won the bet with @Oprah. The Packers beat the Chicago Bears. I am the new owner of OWN!
DJ Whoo Kid @DJWhooKid – I role with STEELER LEGENDS —- http://twitpic.com/3svowk — POW!
So who will win the Superbowl? Cast your vote and let us know!!
