Super Bowl XLV: First look

Super Bowl XLV

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers

When: Feb. 6, 3:30 p.m.

Where: at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas

TV: Channel 11

It’s hard to imagine a Super Bowl matchup between teams with richer histories.

The Steelers and Packers are two of the NFL’s cornerstone franchises, and their players line the corridors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The recent history has been lopsided, with the Steelers winning seven of the last nine meetings.

The teams played last season, and Pittsburgh won a shootout, 37-36. In that game, the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger threw for a career-high 503 yards, becoming the 10th quarterback since 1950 to throw for at least 500 in a game. The game ended with him tossing a desperation, 19-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace on the final play.

The game wasn’t too shabby for Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, either. He completed 26 of 48 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns.

One thing is for sure: Hairdressers will love this matchup — with the wavy locks of Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu on one side, and the Samson-like Clay Matthews on the other.

Team Comparisons

Regular season / PITTSBURGH / GREEN BAY

Points scored / 23.4 (12) / 24.2 (10)

Points given up / 14.5 (1) / 15.0 (2)

Passing offense / 225.1 (14) / 257.8 (5)

Rushing offense / 120.3 (11) / 100.4 (24)

Passing defense / 214.1 (12) / 194.2 (5)

Rushing defense / 62.8 (1) / 114.9 (18)

Turnover ratio / +17 (2) / +10 (4)

Penalties (yards) / 56.4 (9) / 38.6 (30)

Sacks given up / 2.7 (25) / 2.4 (t22)

Sacks (defense) / 3.0 (1) / 2.94 (2)

Yards and points are per-game averages; league rank in parentheses