I don't get this at all. I can't say Tomlin and/or Ben are overrated. One could say that they got put into good situations, but they have certainly made the best of those opportunities.
Tomlin has taken the Steelers to the Super Bowl 2 times since taking over in 2007. Since that time he has added, Woodley, Timmons, Mendenhal, Ziggy hood, Wallace, pouncey, and Sanders to that team. Cowher did build one hell of a team, but Tomlin has done a great job making sure that he replaces pieces as they start to fall out.
As far as Ben goes, I do think that he does get a bit more love than he does because of his Super Bowl rings, but he is still a good QB. To be able to play behind a line he does, avoid a sack, extend a play, and still complete the pass over and over it very impressive. Much like Rodgers has had to do with our O-line. Don't get me wrong, I think Rodgers is a better QB and can hit anything in his cross hairs, but I feel that over the years Ben has done his part. The Steelers offense is much more run based than ours, that would be why Ben usually doesn't put up the amazing numbers that Rodgers does. I guess what I am trying to say is Rodgers wins us games and makes it look amazing, while Ben makes it look sort of ugly and scrappy, but that is just his style of playing.
Now on to the Steeler's four games. The Steelers went 3-1 throughout their first four games. As far as I can see the defense only really had to take over one of the three games they won, and that was against the Titans, where Batch passed for only 25 and Mendenhall only rushed for 69. The games against Atlanta(who made the playoffs) and against Tampa(who were very close to taking our spot in the playoffs) the offense did fairly well. Against Atlanta Dixon passed for 236 while Mendenhall rushed for 120, and against Tampa Batch passed for 186, and Mendenhall rushed for 143. The offense also did decent against the Ravens in the game they lost, but as you can see even though the defense may have been great during the first four weeks, the offense did pretty good too.
Fast start vs slow start... I do agree that we need to come out of the gate on fire to be comfortable in this game. However, we have had out share of slow starts this season. Since the Giants game we have been on fire with the exception of slowing down a little against the Bears both times. (not slowing down in general, just slowing down compared to what we have been doing since the Giants game) The games against the Bears and the game against the Jets it seems like we had trouble getting consistently rolling. The Steeler's did get off to a bit of a slow start against the Ravens, but that is expected with a division rival, however that came out and punched the Jets right in the mouth in the AFC Championship Game.
All in all I would not over look, or underrate the Steelers. I think that they match up against us very well, actually I feel that this is one of the most evenly matched Super Bowls in recent memory. I doubt we will have much success running the ball against them, but I feel that we will see a lot of 4 and 5 wide sets to spread their secondary out. That is sort of a pick your poison sort of deal though, you spread the defense out and unleash the dragon that is Aaron Rodgers on the Steeler's secondary, but have to be very worried about the Steeler's pass rush without the extra blockers. I am excited to see how Capers handles their offense. Blitzing Ben usually chases him out of the pocket, but he is so hard to bring down, and it actually seems like he is more comfortable when not in the pocket. Usually we invite teams to run the ball, and let them get decent YPC, but stop them on 3rd. I am a bit worried about Mendenhall getting rolling on us, but I think Capers will adjust quickly if that happens. All in all I think this is the type of game that is going to be very close. Against this defense I feel that drives ending in touchdowns will be a great success, and field goals will feel almost as good as a touchdown, seeing how hard the Steelers are to score on.
