3 Super Bowl matchups to watch
One of the keys to Super Bowl XLV for both teams will be keeping some of the NFL’s best pass rushers off quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger.
Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews was second in the NFC with 13½ sacks while Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison (10½) and Lamarr Woodley (9½) combined for 20 sacks this season.
The quarterbacks are clearly the keys to both offenses, but the Packers, and especially the Steelers, have been susceptible to pass-rush pressure. The Steelers were 30th in preventing sacks, and the Packers were 20th.
Here’s a look at three key matchups that could determine the success of both quarterbacks and help decide the outcome of Super Bowl XLV in Dallas on Sunday:
Steelers RT Flozell Adams vs.Packers LB Clay Matthews
Adams is a 35-year-old, 13-year veteran, and Matthews is in just his second season but finished second by 2 votes to Steelers safety Troy Polamalu in defensive player of the year voting this season.
Both could be called late bloomers. Matthews started for just one season in high school, wasn’t recruited by any Division-I schools and had to walk on at USC, even though his father Clay Sr. and uncle Bruce both played there before each had long NFL careers. Matthews wasn’t a starter at USC until his senior season, but he wound up being a first-round draft pick.
Adams got off to a slow start, too, but he came on strong at Proviso West High School in Hillside.
“I started playing football late,” Adams said. “I didn’t play pee-wee (football).”
It’s hard to imagine the 6-foot-7, 338-pound Adams ever being a pee-wee, but he was drafted by the Cowboys in the second round out of Michigan State and made it to five Pro Bowls in 12 seasons with the Cowboys — but no Super Bowls.
He’ll get a full 60 minutes from Matthews, who still plays with the all-out mentality of a walk-on trying to prove himself.
“If I’m not the swiftest, strongest, or fastest, it’s really what comes from within,” Matthews said. “That’s what determines how successful you’re going to be. It’s your ‘want to.’ I want to be great, and be better than the person lined up in front of me.”
Packers NT B.J. Raji vs. Steelers C Doug Legursky or Maurkice Pouncey
Pouncey, a first-round draft choice who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, is about the only person who thinks he has a chance to play Sunday with a high ankle sprain and a small fracture. He has said it will be a game-day decision.
Raji is the 337-pound run-stuffer whose 18-yard interception return for a TD proved to be the wining points in the NFC title game against the Bears.
“Let me get one thing straight — I know that Pouncey is not playing,” Raji said. “But the guy behind him is no slouch. He’s very physical and finishes to the whistle. To think that (anyone is) underestimating him, or that he’s not a good player, would be a sad mistake.”
The 315-pound Legursky, an undrafted second-year player out of Marshall, started four games at guard early in the season, and he played most of the AFC title game against the New York Jets after Pouncey was hurt. There’s a big difference between the two positions.
“Being the center, you have to let everybody know what’s going on,” Legursky said. “You’re really the brains of the offensive line. You have to tell everybody what’s going on (with blocking assignments). It’s just all about communication.”
Raji not only has shown the ability to stifle NFL running games, but he has 6½ sacks, which is impressive for a nose tackle.
“B.J. is a player,” Legursky said. “He’s shown that through the playoffs. He’s a big guy with quick moves who can make plays.”
Legursky will get some double-team help from guards Chris Kemoeatu and Ramon Foster, but he’ll also have Raji one-on-one at times.
“We’re not game-planning him any different than we would any other team, so it’s my battle” he said. “If my number is called, I’ll be ready.”
Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley vs. Packers RT Bryan Bulaga
Woodley has 10 career postseason sacks and is the first player in NFL history with at least 1 sack in each of his six games. He reached double-digits in postseason sacks faster than anyone since sacks became an official stat in 1982, breaking former Bears DE Richard Dent’s record of 7 sacks.
Woodley had 2 sacks in Super Bowl XLIII. He is the first player in NFL history to record four straight multi-sack playoff games.
Woodley will be looking to get the jump on the rookie from Crystal Lake and Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock from the get-go. But Bulaga has the experience of having started the previous 15 games.
“The guy that you got to get uncomfortable first is the guy you’re rushing against,” Woodley said. “He’s got to feel you from the very first snap. You’ve got to let him know that’s what he’s getting all day.
“Once you get that first sack early, you get him (on) his heels a bit because now everybody is looking at him, blaming him like, ‘You could have got the quarterback hurt.’ You need to keep beating him, physically and mentally.”
Ÿ Follow Bob’s Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere, and chheck out his Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.