SUPER BOWL PREGAME-NOTES AND PREDICTION

The comment zone is open and will be open all night and game. Go Hawks !!!

3:30 can not get here soon enough. Let me give you a few things to chew on between now and then.

When the Seahawks have the ball.

Look for the Hawks to use a lot of 3 wide receiver set. Keep an eye on how the Steelers defend the inside receiver.

Norm Chow, Titans offensive coordinator, told us that the Steelers want to avoid have Troy Polamalu in assigned coverage. How can Mike Holmgren avoid that.

The number 1 key will not be the Joey Porter match-up, but will be whether Robbie Tobeck can handle Pro-Bowler Casey Hampton. Tobeck had a poor game against Dallas and the 3-4 and also had a league leading 10 holding penalties. That must be avoided.

Can the Hawks receivers take advantage of the Steelers corners.

When the Steelers have the ball.

Watch how many players the Hawks have in the box. Where are they aligning the safeties?

I suspect the Hawks will blitz very rarely and the question will be can Roethlisberger find open receivers and make the correct reads.

Rocky Bernard has been brilliant. How will the Steelers block him? Will they double him and leave Wistrom and Fischer in single coverage?

Can the Steelers guards get out onto the Hawks linebackers and dominate them physically?

Overall Game Trends

Tempo early in the game. Watch how fast the Hawks get to the line of scrimmage. A good way to keep an eye on that is if the network is able to get starting line-ups in and if they are able to have long replays. Also watch the play clock.

The Hawks have to score early. They have been brilliant early in games and the Steelers have struggled early in games. The Hawks defense only allowed 1 defensive touchdown all season in the first quarter.

The Steelers are a great passing team. Yes, all the media has talked about is the running game, but the reality is that the Steelers are a outstanding passing team. It is they just don’t do it very often. A big concern has to be the pass coverage of the Hawks linebackers and the overall play of the secondary.

Prediction

The Hawks will score early in this game and take a 10-0 lead. The Steelers will make plays with their passing game in the middle of the field. The game will get closer, but Michael Boulware will get a huge interception that alters the frame of the game and leads to an easy Hawks touchdown.


Boulware will get another turnover on his way to the Super Bowl MVP. The Hawks will prevail 31-17.


Enjoy the day.