STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
The Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl champions. As you might have heard, the Packers pulled out an exciting 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last night. NPR's Mike Pesca was at the game and brings these highlights.
MIKE PESCA: We are told to win football games a team should, if not must, do the following: gain more yards, run the ball better, have fewer penalties, control time of possession, get more first downs, and have fewer key injuries. The Pittsburgh Steelers did all of those things. Yet maybe you've heard - if not, Packer linebacker Clay Matthews will say it.
CLAY MATTHEWS: We got the whole city of Green Bay exactly what they deserve, the Lomabrdi Trophy, bringing it back home.
PESCA: The Packers won their fourth Lombardi Trophy, 13th title overall, by establishing a lead early and then knocking Pittsburgh backwards whenever they got close enough to be a problem. In the first quarter, down seven to nothing, Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dropped back to pass. He was hit on the release, just enough to turn a dart into a duck. Then Nick Collins did the rest, as Westwood One's Kevin Harlan detailed.
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KEVIN HARLAN: ...and it's intercepted. It's picked off by UNINTELLIGIBLE) DOWN THE SIDELINES, 20 (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 10 (UNINTELLIGIBLE the 5, dives to the goal line! It is a touchdown!
PESCA: But the Packers knew their opponent would not shrink. Packer defensive captain A.J. Hawk is familiar with the Roethisberger resume.
HAWK: We've seen so many times, you've seen Ben come from behind and lead game-winning drives. I'm from Ohio and I've seen Ben when he was (unintelligible) Ohio how well he played and he seemed like he was leading drives all year, every year he was there. And then he gets to the NFL and he's going to do the same thing.
PESCA: Indeed, Roethlisberger rallied. Pittsburgh put together touchdown drives to end the second quarter and start the third. As the fourth quarter began, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall had been moving the ball well, and Pittsburgh was in Packer territory, down four points. A.J. Hawk describes the first play of the fourth quarter.
HAWK: They had their big guys in, we put our big guys in, and I know Ryan Picket did a great job of getting some penetration.
PESCA: Defensive linemen Cullen Jenkins...
CULLEN JENKINS: You know, they kind of sandwiched the running back and I think he wasn't expecting it, and knocked the ball out.
PESCA: Hawk...
HAWK: I think Desmond Bishop did a great job of picking the ball up and running with it.
PESCA: After that fumble, Mendehall would not touch the ball again, and Green Bay would drive for a TD. In fact, all of Pittsburgh's turnovers resulted in Green Bay touchdowns. Of all the supposed keys to winning that we've mentioned so far, Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers pointed to what's actually the most important.
DOM CAPERS: I think this - if you look at the playoffs and you look at these Super Bowl games, the things that effect them the most are takeaways - the takeaway giveaway.
PESCA: He's right. The team that wins the turnover battle wins the Super Bowl 91 percent of the time - 93 percent including last night. But even after the Packers had turned the Steelers over for the third time, Pittsburgh still came back, pulling to within three with seven and a half minutes left. The Packers answered. Rodgers hit Greg Jennings for a big gain on third down. When the Steelers failed in their-last minute drive, Jennings' promise to his teammate Donald Driver came true. Driver, the longest-serving Packer, was lost to injury in the first half.
DONALD DRIVER: I broke down, and doc came over and just told me, you know, you've got to be able to be the strong one and go out there and rally those guys on. I told him it'd be hard, but one thing I did is I had to come out that tunnel, and when I came out of it, Greg and Jordy and J.J., and Brett, Sweeney, they all came up to me and told me they was going to win it for me, and they did.
PESCA: Last night, as was the case all year, Green Bay players were lost left and right, but the Pack just bounced back. Aaron Rogers certainly had that in mind when he was handed his MVP award by Terry Bradshaw of Fox.
AARON ROGERS: This is a great group of men that we put together here, a lot of character, been through a lot together. It's just great to be able to share it with them.
PESCA: Mike Pesca, NPR News, Dallas, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
