Super Sunday--- Battle of the Underdogs?

Sports

Salem-News.com Sports

(Salem) - There is no doubt that this has been an exciting and surprising year in the NFL. Lots of people saw a sure win for the AFC in Indianapolis, Denver, or even late-season bloomers New England. Over in the NFC, Carolina, Seattle, and Chicago all looked like strong hopefuls. Why is this years` big game the battle of the underdogs?

Let`s start with Pittsburgh. You know the Steel Curtain- with years of history and NFL accomplishments including being the first team to take the ring four times, and the only team to take the Lombardi trophy back to back twice. Their regular season wrapped up with an 11-5 record. Their loss record included New England, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. At least three of these teams showed play off and championship potential. The Steelers stepped up to win three play-off road games, which in itself is worthy of a shout out. The fact that they had to fight through New England, Indianapolis, and Denver to get to this weekend, shows amazing talent, follow through and reinforces the old saying `any given Sunday".

On the other side of the ball this Sunday is the Seattle Seahawks. They quietly wrapped up the season with a 13-3 record. Never losing at home, the Seahawks got downed in Jacksonville, Washington, and Green Bay. The NFC west way not a very tough division this year, but Seattle was persistent and consistent in their game. The playoffs were not a breeze, but fundamentals and the `12th" man secured their fate for this weekend. Seattle flew under the radar and took a lot of us by surprise, but the stars of this team still didn`t show up on the big sports shows. The fact that Seattle has never been to the big game comes up a lot, but then again everyone talked the same way until St. Louis became the first dome team to win the big game.

We can look over statistic after statistic and player after player to try and figure out `who is the biggest underdog this Sunday"? When you think about Pittsburgh being the only #6 seed to make it to this game, and Seattle never being here before, it seems that answer is difficult. Pittsburgh has shown tremendous drive and heart at the end of the season, but Seattle just kept doing what it was doing, and that was winning football games consistently. In this NFL fans eyes, that makes the Pittsburgh Steelers the real underdog this weekend.

Las Vegas odds makers are favoring Pittsburgh to win by 4 ½ points on Sunday. What would you bet?

This sports fan would take the bus with the underdog Pittsburgh Steelers.

Enjoy Super Sunday!