Cool prop option on Bodog’s NFL odds for this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers is a historical comparison of Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger from Super Bowl XL five years ago and XLIII two seasons ago to this year’s game.
Super Bowl XL was played on Feb. 5, 2006, at Ford Field in Detroit between Pittsburgh and the Seattle Seahawks, who made their first and still only Super Bowl. Those Steelers, coached by Bill Cowher, were a definite run-first team with Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker splitting carries. And in Pittsburgh’s 21-10 victory, Bettis and Parker combined for 24 carries and 146 yards with a touchdown – the TD was a 75-yard score by Parker, which remains the longest run in Super Bowl history.
That was Roethlisberger’s second season in the NFL and he wasn’t asked to do too much in the Super Bowl, going 9-for-21 for 123 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. In fact Big Ben didn’t even throw the most important pass in the game – Antwaan Randle El did, a 43-yard touchdown to Hines Ward, who would be named the game’s MVP. The most noteworthy play for Big Ben, who became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, was a bad pass that that Kelly Herndon of the Seahawks returned a then-record 76 yards that set up Seattle’s only TD.
The 2010 Roethlisberger is -115.5 passing yards to exceed the 2006 version, with this season’s QB a slight -120 favorite. Back in 2009, the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 on Feb. 1 in Tampa. Big Ben threw for 256 yards in that game. The total on this year’s game is 15.5 yards over/under that 256 yards for Roethlisberger, with both over and under at -115. The QB averaged 267 yards during the regular season but has been held to 226 and 133 in two playoff games.