Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey will miss the Super Bowl, according to teammate Chris Kemoeatu.
Pouncey has been fitted for a cast, after suffering what was believed to be a high-ankle sprain in the AFC Championship game. Pouncey didn’t return after suffering the injury, but suggested after the game he’d play in the Super Bowl. The cast is a good sign that isn’t going to happen.
The news is good for the Green Bay Packers and bad for the Steelers. Pouncey was probably the Steelers best offensive lineman, this season.
However, the Steelers have kept together their offensive line through injuries like the Packers have kept together their team — by plugging in backups and winning anyway. The Steelers lost tackles Max Starks and Willie Colon to injured reserve during the season.
Doug Legursky will replace Pouncey in the lineup.
Legursky managed to hold things together against the Jets, but, as Pro Football Weekly notes, the Steelers totaled only 56 yards in the second half and didn’t run the ball as effectively with Pouncey on the sideline.
Sort of hilarious considering this guy was just in the news insisting he was going to play.
The Steelers have real issues along their offensive line. The Packers have two guys in Cullen Jenkins and BJ Raji who can really cause problems. The Steelers don’t have anyone like them with Aaron Smith injured and Casey Hamptom more of a run stopper.
These two guys can make the difference in this game.
We’re going to blow them out.
As long as Aaron plays fairly well, our defense should keep them in check.
Pittsburgh is built to make it to the Super Bowl through cold weather. Power running game, shut down the run. The Packers are built to win the Super Bowl in a controlled environment. Speed offense, speed defense. And the fact that the Packers just kicked the NFC’s ass, on the road, in adverse conditions which is really not suited to their style…yes and blowing out Atlanta in a dome, I’m pretty sure the Steelers coaches are huddled in a room scratching their collective heads.
The Steelers played two games on turf this season, they lost both games, and scored 10 points in each contest. Granted it was the Saints (pre Seahawks debacle) and Baltimore and their vaunted defense.
However I’m calling my shot early. Barring some crazy shit going down and whether this center plays or not, I think we’re going to stomp them early and stomp them often. This could be the most lopsided Super Bowl EVER. Yep…I said it.
Packers 44 Steelers 13
ay hombre bring up some great points. i have also been preaching the pittsburgh cold weather team vs. the green bay new greatest show on turf team. i think the pack will also walk away with this fairly easy, but a 31 point win might be a bit too optimistic for me. i think we are looking at a 35-21 kind of game that is really never close after the 1st quarter.
blowout? i cant say i agree with you there. i do believe that this will be a great game but i cant see the packers pulling it out. the steelers are too strong defensively and to beat them you MUST have a good balance in the running and passing game. the packers “patched-together” running game will not allow the packers offense to get rolling like they did against atlanta. in my opinion this game comes down to the quarterbacks. both teams have great defenses (the pack with a better secondary and the steelers with a better linebacker corp) but the steelers have an ace-in-the-hole with troy polamalu and his knack for making huge plays in close games. clay matthews is a great player but james harrison cancels him out in their effectiveness. anyways, i’ll take ben roethilisberger over rodgers any day, as he already has won two super bowls and has established himself as a big game player, i dont know if rodgers is quite there yet.
steelers 27 packers 24