NORTHBROOK, Ill. (STATS) – The Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t typically give their quarterbacks all day to stand back in the pocket and survey the field.
Given the mobility of Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger, they don’t need to.
The Packers and Steelers graded out lower than usual in the New York Life Protection Index, but some big plays outside the pocket have two of the NFL’s most storied franchises headed for a Super Bowl XLV showdown in Dallas.
The New York Life Protection Index is a proprietary formula created by STATS LLC which measures pass protection by using metrics such as length of passes, penalties by offensive lineman, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns.
Green Bay finished 14th in the regular season at 65.3 while Pittsburgh was 26th at 51.1, and both teams posted below-average totals in the NYLPI in their conference championship games.
That didn’t stop them from advancing. The Packers overcame two holding penalties, two false starts and a 63.1 NYLPI rating to win 21-14 at Chicago, with Rodgers’ 39 rushing yards – including a 1-yard TD run on the first drive – playing a big part.
“I think as a whole we’re playing pretty well,” said offensive tackle Chad Clifton, who was injured on the first drive but later returned. “You look at (Rodgers) and what he’s able to do through the course of the playoffs and even before, he’s playing unbelievable football, being productive and running the ball as well. So with the talent we have at the receiver position, and the way we’re running the ball, I think that’s a credit to us.”
The Steelers, meanwhile, finished with a 36.7 NYLPI rating in their 24-19 AFC championship game victory over the Jets, not much of an improvement from their 31.9 in a divisional-round win over Baltimore.
Roethlisberger was hurried eight times and sacked twice, but Pittsburgh’s offensive line was outstanding in one key area. It wasn’t flagged for a single holding penalty for the second straight week, a stunner after the patchwork unit was whistled for a league-high 23 holds during the regular season.
The Steelers’ running game was key, producing 166 yards – 21 from Roethlisberger – while the two-time Super Bowl winner threw for just 133 yards.
But the pass protection held up at two key moments, when coach Mike Tomlin opted to throw the ball instead of run it – the safer route but also the one more likely to result in punting back to New York late in the game. Roethlisberger found Heath Miller for a 14-yard completion just before the two-minute warning and Antonio Brown for 14 on third-and-6 just after it, salting away Pittsburgh’s third AFC title in six seasons.
“Two great calls by Tomlin,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “I tip my hat to them that they actually were putting the ball in the air. I thought they’d run it again.”
The Steelers’ line held up remarkably well despite suffering a key loss on the first drive of the game. Pro Bowl rookie center Maurkice Pouncey was lost for the game with a high ankle sprain, leaving him questionable for the Super Bowl.
The Jets nearly doubled Pittsburgh’s NYLPI rating with a 71.4, but 233 passing yards from Mark Sanchez – 147 of which came through the air – weren’t enough to help them reach the sport’s biggest stage for the first time since Super Bowl III.
New York’s protection was the highest of the four teams on championship weekend but was far from perfect. A second-quarter blitz by Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor knocked the ball loose from Sanchez deep in Pittsburgh territory, allowing teammate William Gay to walk 19 yards into the end zone for what turned out to be the winning touchdown.
Earlier on championship Sunday, a defensive touchdown ultimately turned out to be the Bears’ undoing. After both Jay Cutler and Todd Collins exited with injuries, third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie was blitzed by cornerback Sam Shields – one of the Packers’ eight hurries – and threw a critical fourth-quarter interception to 337-pound nose tackle B.J. Raji, who returned it 18 yards to give Green Bay a 21-7 lead.
The Bears finished with a 45.3 NYLPI rating. That was still higher than their league-worst 33.1 mark during the regular season, but Green Bay’s consistent penetration and six knockdowns made a great impact – particularly in knocking out Cutler.
“We hit the guy pretty hard, we broke out some different angles, all different places on the field,” Raji said.
Even if the Packers can do the same to Roethlisberger in Dallas, a win is hardly guaranteed. Pittsburgh has failed to surpass 50.0 in the NYLPI rating in its last six playoff games, yet it’s won five straight.
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