Superbowl XLV - The Live Blog

10pm: So here we are again! After 17 weeks of regular season games, 3 weeks of postseason and... er... the Pro Bowl, we have reached the climax of another NFL season. This time the action is from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas and features the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Green Bay Packers. Sky Sports have just got underway, with the obligatory operatic montage to start things off. Poor old Kevin Cadle has drawn the short straw and is in the studio. Oh shit, the Black Eyed Peas are doing the halftime show and Christina Aguilera is doing the anthem. That'll take about a fortnight then.

10:10pm: Apparently 8 million tonnes of guacamole are consumed during Superbowl weekend. How on earth do you find so many ripe avocados at one time? Jeff Reinebold is STILL going on about how great former pupil Emmanuel Sanders is. Sanders returns the favour, turning this game into one big love-in. Which the biggest sporting show on earth should certainly not be! And I swear Cecil Martin's had a stroke - his left side doesn't appear to be moving! Just in case regular BtC readers are wondering, this live blog lark is just an experiment for the major sporting events. I was going to do it for the start of the Ashes, but there were 10 other lads around me, so I couldn't really find the focus! But I'll be here until the small hours tonight!

10:20pm: Just for the record, I'm backing the Packers tonight, mainly because they won the game of Madden I played earlier in the week. Sky have done some wide shots of the Cowboys Stadium. I was in Dallas when it was being built - believe me, it's massive! Steelers kicker Sean Suisham is now being interviewed - star names indeed. Cadle comments on his lack of personality. Lad. Incidentally, Tiki Barber is in the BBC studio tonight, just 3 years after FiveLive's analyst Greg Brady slammed him on air for essentially being a bit of a dick.

10:30pm: Ah, now Nick Halling is interviewing Rashard Mendenhall. At least the names are improving, even if Halling is a little starstruck with his beloved Steelers! Spare a thought with Maurkice Pouncey, the Steelers' rookie centre who misses the game with an ankle injury after an outstanding season. Is his absence going to be as telling as Dwight Freeney showing up half-fit for the Colts last year?

10:40pm: The two QBs are being discussed. The big question "Ben Roethlisberger - a changed man?". Aka, "Ben Roethlisberger - still inclined to a bit of rapeyness every now and then?". How are you supposed to answer that? Is it just me or does Aaron Rodgers look a bit like Pat Sharp?

10:55pm: The AFC really is dull isn't it? Patriots, Colts, Steelers. Take your pick. The NFC have had 10 different teams in the past 10 years and has proven as easy to predict as... pretty much anything we at BtC have tried predicting in the last year! Finally a bit of exposure towards the Packers - from their former Steelers linebacker coach Kevin Green. Although, to be fair, the linebacker position is one of the areas where the Packers can win the game if Clay Matthews et al play to their potential.

11:10pm: Here come the players. Bit of Muse playing on the PA, just to keep up the British interest, followed up by Brighton's very own Fatboy Slim! Beats down the Black Eyed Peas any day! Who is that random bloke doing the introductory video voiceovers? He looks like he'd spend his spare time shooting his cousins. Christina Aguilera's looking tasty!

11:20pm: OH MY GOD IT'S THAT DAFT BITCH OFF GLEE!! Singing what I consider to be the Superbowl equivalent of Abide With Me. Dubya appears on the big screen and gets a big cheer, presumably from his extended family who got him into power in the first place. Damn, I thought the sound was about to break for a second there and spare us the drone. Aggy starts singing the national anthem sounding a bit like Barry White. If someone ever butchered Flower of Scotland like this, I would expect a warrant for their arrest to be sent out. But this is America, so the crowd love it. Customary fly-over alert. Can we please get on with the game now?

11:28pm: I would like everyone to gain a bit of perspective here. This is a game of football. So FOX have naturally shown a montage featuring D-Day, Martin Luther King, The Berlin Wall and the assassination of John Lennon. Honestly, some of the links they manage to conjure up in the name of patriotism are heroically tenuous.

11:31pm: Deion Sanders looking resplendent at the coin toss. James Farrior calls incorrectly, Green Bay defer and the Steelers receive first. Game on!

11:38pm: Pittsburgh go 3 and out. Tramon Williams then muffs a punt, but after a battle for the ball, the Packers retain possession. Rodgers sees a Pittsburgh blitz on 3rd down and bombs one up the middle to Donald Driver. The drive eventually fizzles out - defence on top so far.

11:58pm: Baseball star A-Rod being fed some tasty snack by his lady in the stands. Green Bay making slow progress but Brandon Jackson forces his way over midfield. AND A TOUCHDOWN. Rodgers throwing right side to Jordi Nelson for 29-yards, who outstrips the Pittsburgh CB William Gay. Mason Crosby on the PAT is good. Green Bay lead 7-0. 3:44 left in the 1st quarter. Oooohh... footage from the Indigo O2 Superbash in London. Which looks really rubbish - fun to see balding British men pretending they know the game. A bit like me. Except that I have a beautiful full head of hair.

12:07am: 14-0. Big Ben airs it out after a penalty marches the Steelers back to their own 7. The Packers line brings the pressure, and Nick Collins is presented with an easy pick which he runs in spectacularly. A 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration is imposed. It's the Superbowl. Pardon the Packers for getting a bit excited! Ridiculous rule...

12:13am: The Steelers are feeling the heat. Flozell Adams has a shoulder injury, although should return. CB Bryant McFadden's hip injury looks more serious. Big Ben "gets up gimpy" after an incompletion but then puts his knee injury behind him to pick up a first down on his own. He must be angry... he's got his rape face on. End of the 1st quarter.

12:23am: Pittsburgh somehow find a way to move the ball downfield at the start of the second quarter. Emmanuel Sanders takes a pasting from Tramon Williams but gets up and carries on. Suisham eventually kicks the FG to get the Steelers on the board. 14-3. This being Texas, there are some exceptionally dodgy moustaches in the crowd. Who tells them those things look good?

12:38am: Antwan Randle El makes a great low catch on 3rd & 6 and proceeds to celebrate like a housewife who just had the 1p box opened on Deal or No Deal. He loved it that much! Time out with 4:35 left in the 2nd quarter.

12:42am: Big Ben picked again. Once more pushing the ball through a little hard towards Mike Wallace who was double covered. Jarrett Bush makes the interception. Advantage Dom Capers in his defensive coordinatior battle with the legendary Dick LeBeau. James Starks makes a great run to push his offense towards the red zone and RODGERS THROWS ANOTHER TD! Greg Jennings gets clobbered after being picked up on an in route from the slot by Polamalu. It's not enough but Christ that was close to an INT. 21-yard score for Jennings. 21-3 and Green Bay are all over this game! Incidentally, I have decided to go and get a pizza rather than watching the Black Eyed Peas.

12:54am: It's Green Bay's turn to get banged up as secondary stars Sam Shields and Charles Woodson both head down the tunnel with injuries. Pittsburgh will look to grab 7 before halftime. The Freezer BJ Raji spears Roethlisberger who gets up looking a little dazed. Heinz Ward grabs a couple of first down receptions to set up a first and goal and then the TOUCHDOWN! 39 seconds left in the first half and it's 21-10 Green Bay.

1am: As the clocks strike one in the UK, Starks runs for a couple to run the clock out. Half time in the Superbowl. Now let's get to Samsun's before the Peas come on and offend my ears. God I wish The Who came back...

1:13am: I leave the flat for 10 minutes and the world's gone bloody crazy. Fergie is murdering Sweet Child O' Mine but Slash is there! What a legend. We then revert to type as Pump It. The choreography seems to be Beijing 2008-esque. In that Will.I.Am has threatened the families of those involved, should they put a single foot wrong. How I wish they went with the original version of Let's Get It Started. Just to offend all of those in middle America with the use of the word "retarded". Shit, now Usher's here. This is so weird. It's just not a halftime show

1:20am: The Time now playing. With about three dozen Marvin the Paranoid Androids joining them on stage. This is so bizarre I'm expecting the ghost of Patrick Swayze to emerge. Sadly it doesn't. I have never known four people make such a career out of basically shouting idealistic nonsense. Halling says it was nothing like the Rolling Stones. I concur my good man. Let's get back to business after that nonsense.

1:31am: Back underway, Rodgers to start from the 20. How big will that Pittsburgh score before HT be? Charles Woodson is out for the game. Another major blow for the NFC Champions.

1:36am: Green Bay seem determined to throw this one away. After a couple of silly offensive penalties, James Jones drops another sitter on 3rd down to end the drive prematurely. He really needs to change his gloves after the postseason he's had! Tom Crabtree then grabs a facemask on the punt return to give the Steelers 15 free yards.

1:42am: TOUCHDOWN PITTSBURGH! And boy, has the Steelers O-Line come to the party. Rashard Mendenhall starts the ball rolling, bouncing off a camerman in the process. Isaac Redman takes it to the 8, before Mendenhall pounds it in for the score. Brilliant running game from the Steelers. 21-17

1:59am: Down goes Big Ben, just as the Steelers had this game by the scruff of the neck. Undrafted rookie Frank Zombo with the hit after the defence creaked all the way down the field. Sean Suisham doesn't even threaten the posts with the FG attempt. It's still a four point game. The offense need to be methodical in their approach now and most importantly hold their catches! Of all teams who wouldn't want to drop the Vince Lombardi Trophy...

2:13am: Mike McCarthy challenges a 3rd down incompletion. Did Brett Swain have control of the ball before fumbling (GB did recover)? I can see why he's thrown the red flag, but I reckon that this one will stand as ruled on the field. This is taking such a long time. Yep, ruling stands and GB, having been blunted for the entire quarter, will have to punt yet again. It's a great punt from Masthay but there's an ineligible man downfield and they have to do it all again. Too many mistakes from the Packers.

2:21am: End of the 3rd. It's tighter than a Yorkshireman's forward defense. Or wallet for that matter. My apologies, I have to resort to crude stereotyping at this time of the morning. But then, the miserable buggers deserve it!

2:24am: Ah the prophecy of Madden. Rashard Mendenhall does as he did in my preview game and coughs up the ball for Desmond Bishop to collect and turn possession over. The beleagured defense takes a well-earned rest

2:30am: TOUCHDOWN GREEN BAY! The Superbowl never disappoints. Jordy Nelson goes from the ridiculous to the sublime in two plays, dropping another simple catch before following it up with an excellent catch and run to set up a first and goal. Rodgers is sacked on 1st down before finding Greg Jennings in the back of the end zone to make it 28-17. Cecil Martin's face is beginning to show signs of life.

2:34am: Shit I've just been on Wikipedia and found out that Cecil Martin has a Bell's palsy. I should know better, I really should...

2:42am: TOUCHDOWN PITTSBURGH! A lovely, lovely throw from Ben to Mike Wallace to the left side, as GB's secondary coverage gets blown, not for the first time in the drive. Roethlisberger pitches to Randle El for the two-point conversion. 28-25. I just heard that GB have 15 players on IR. That they have come so far and pushed the Steelers into this grand finale is a credit to the coaching and the depth on talent they have available to them.

2:53am: Rodgers is sacked by the man with the best name in the NFL, Ziggy Hood. But on 3rd and 10, Rodgers finds Jennings in the seam once again for a massive play. Starks finally sees a bit of ball in the 2nd half, before a James Jones reception sets up first and goal. You can bet your last penny on Rodgers getting MVP. Pittsburgh make the stop and Mason Crosby slots the FG from 23 yards. 31-25, 2:10 to go. Tense.

2:57am: I've just read that Christina Aguilera fluffed the words to her own national anthem. The lesson here is very simple - cut out the ridiculous gymnastics until you're absolutely certain of the words. Particularly your own anthem which you've had drilled into you since you were knee high to a grasshopper. I love it when show-offs mess it up! Two minute warning with the Steelers backed up on their own line after a personal foul flag on the kick-off.

3:04am: TURNED OVER ON DOWNS! Roethlisberger cannot find Mike Wallace on 4th & 5. The Steelers want a pass interference call but it's just desperation. Surely the victory formation will come out now for GB. McCarthy braces himself for the Gatorade!

3:07am: THE GREEN BAY PACKERS WIN SUPERBOWL XLV! An amazing game of football. Cowboys Stadium is doused in tickertape, Aaron Rodgers is mobbed by media. The way that these boys have overcome injury this season is phenomenal. It's all about peaking at the right time and the Packers have done just that. 31-25 the final score. And I'm off to bed. Thank you and goodnight!

RM