Green Bay Packers overcome Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV (Part 3)
In the first half of the Super Bowl the Pittsburgh Steelers had taken a beating at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. When the Packers opened the third quarter, they were leading 21 against 10. Green Bay’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers
had thrown two touchdown passes. Packers’ safety Nick Collins returned a first quarter interception for a 37-yard touchdown.
The Steelers had managed a field goal and a touchdown in the second quarter for a total of 10 points. Pittsburgh had gained some momentum against the Packers after the first quarter, but their offence needed to fire up their game
to be able to come back from the 11-point deficit.
The Packers started the third quarter with a penalty on a rushing play. Tight end Donald Lee was penalized 10 yards for offensive holding which pushed back the Packers to the 10-yard line. Rodgers passed 10 yards to wide receiver
James Jones but the effort was undone by a false start penalty for five yards on the next play. Cornerback Charles Woodson was injured on that play and did not return for the remainder of the game.
From the 15-yard line, on second and 15, Rodgers pulled through again for Green Bay and threw his second consecutive 10-yard pass; this time to Jordy Nelson. On third and five, the quarterback passed the ball to James Jones once
again. Cornerback William g*y covered the receiver but was unable to stop Rodgers’ pass. The ball landed straight into James’ hands but he was not able to hold on to it. An obviously frustrated Rodgers walked off the field as the Packers got into the punt
formation. The 42-yard punt was returned for two yards to Pittsburgh’s 35-yard line by Antonio Brown before he was stopped by Tom Crabtree. During that play, the Packers were flagged for the third time in the series.
Following the 15 yards face mask penalty, the Steelers offence started at the centre of the field. An offence that seemed to have been struggling was jolted to life by a 17-yard rush on the first play by Rashard Mendenhall. The
running back ran right and advanced 17 yards before being pushed out of bounds, crashing into a soundman. Mendenhall was hurt in that collision but was able to continue playing.
Following Mendenhall’s rush, Isaac Redman and Roethlisberger ran three and six yards, respectively, to take the Steelers to Green Bay’s 24. Redman rushed another 16 yards on third and one, taking the Steelers inside the redzone
with a new set of downs. However, Pittsburgh did not plan on using those downs. Mendenhall rushed through the middle of the Packers’ defensive line for an eight-yard touchdown. With the extra point, the Steelers reduced Green Bay’s 11-point lead to just four
points.
The Packers were finding it hard to get their offence back on track. After Mendenhall’s touchdown the Packers offence returned to the sidelines after just three plays. James Starks opened the attack with a three-yard rush from
the 18-yard line. On second and seven, Rodgers was unable to complete a pass to Jordy Nelson. On third and seven, Rodgers was sacked by James Harrison which forced the Packers to punt the ball.
Pittsburgh regained possession on the 40-yard line and took another shot at scoring. Mendenhall opened again with a one-yard gain followed by an 8-yard pass to Mike Wallace and a seven-yard rush by Mewelde Moore for the first down.
Roethlisberger got the second down with a 15-yard pass to Hines Ward from the Packers’ 44. The Steelers made it to the 29-yard line but could not advance any further. On second and 10, the Steelers lost three yards and on third and 13, Roethlisberger was sacked.
Pittsburgh attempted the field goal from the 34-yard line but the attempt was no good.
After that, neither side was able to score in the remainder of the quarter.
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