Troy Polamalu, Mike Tomlin? Who To Blame for the Steelers' Super Bowl XLV Loss?
Can you put the blame on just one player?
Sometimes you can, but the majority of times it's the team's fault. They win as a team and lose as one.
In the biggest game of the year the Steelers came up short and you can't pin the blame on just one individual because Pittsburgh lost as a collective unit.
However, that won't stop us from selecting individuals that one can place the blame on.
The list that follows will be guys contributing to the Green Bay Packers beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
10. Troy Polamalu
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Troy Polamalu is not solely to blame for Sunday's loss; he is however, partly to blame.
He wasn't 100 percent, but it was the Super Bowl so he had to play. His health may have slowed him down, and the fact that he hasn't been going very hard these past few weeks was also a factor.
Polamalu was banged up and it hurt the team.
Is that his fault? No, you can't control injuries, it is a part of the game. But, Polamalu was late on the ball and missed a couple of tackles.
He also missed assignments and it resulted in first downs or touchdowns.
9. Dallas and Cowboys Stadium
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They were expecting warm weather. They got snow and ice. Is it really that much of a factor?
It is, but only minimially. No one can control the weather, but you can control how you handle the aftermath of a snow storm. The city of Dallas did a poor a job of that.
What could be more crucial is the fact that Super Bowl XLV was played in a dome.
The "grass" on the field isn't what the Steelers are used to. The one other time Pittsburgh played in a dome this season they lost. That was October 31st, 2010 at the Super Dome in New Orleans, and the Saints won that game 20-10.
Call it just an excuse but it did have an affect on the team. The weather affected their weekly plans, and the stadium affected their game play.
Great teams overcome those types of things, and on Sunday, the Steelers weren't great.
8. The Steelers Secondary
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Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, and Bryant McFadden were the three leading tacklers for the Steelers on Sunday.
The Packers threw the ball 39 times and rushed only 11 times. Therefore these three guys in the secondary saw a lot of action.
They made their tackles because they did not cover well—too many times did they let Green Bay receivers get open and move the ball down the field with ease.
Constantly seeing his players wide open over the middle, Aaron Rodgers was absolutely loving it.
Just imagine if Green Bay didn't drop all those passes, how bad would it have been?
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7. James Harrison
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Where was he in the Super Bowl?
Was he worried he would get another fine? Did he leave his game back in Pittsburgh?
James Harrison recorded one tackle. It was one of the three sacks the Steelers had on Aaron Rodgers.
One of the most dominant linebackers in the game today, Harrison disrupts offenses and is feared by opposing players.
He just didn't show up, and it hurt the Steelers.
6. Mike Tomlin
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The head coach always gets a little blame for each loss. It's part of the job.
Mike Tomlin was down 21-10 at halftime, adjustments were made, and going into the fourth he found himself within four points.
This is his team and he failed in the fourth quarter.
Tomlin made a poor decision and called for a 52-yard field goal that was just an awful kick. It had the distance but it sailed way left and never had a chance.
And Tomlin called for 19 rushing plays—about six or seven too many. The ground game just wasn't working. He needed to make the executive decision of mixing things up.
The basic game plan wasn't working and Tomlin needed to make a change, but nothing was done.
5. Jordy Nelson
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Jordy Nelson torched the Steelers defense with 140 receiving yards and one touchdown.
He had nine receptions and dropped three or four passes from Aaron Rodgers, one of which would've been a touchdown (Nelson may have gone over 200 yards had he hauled in every catch).
He couldn't be stopped. Or was it that they just left him open because of his drops?
If that's the case, Nelson made them pay.
4. Rashard Mendenhall
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Rashard Mendenhall was almost non-existent in Super Bowl XLV.
On 14 carries he rushed for 63 yards and one touchdown. Those are decent numbers but when he's typically rushing well into the 80s or over 100 yards, it's a fail.
Mendenhall also fumbled the ball in a crucial moment.
If you look at the play it was as if he didn't care he had the ball. He's about to get crushed by two Green Bay defenders and he doesn't protect the ball.
Tuck the ball and hold it with two hands, that is basic fundamentals.
Mendenhall coughed it up and cost the Steelers the game.
3. Green Bay's Defense
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They did what they had to do. Green Bay's defense was underrated throughout the playoffs and they stepped up when needed most.
Sam Shields went down with an injury as did team leader Charles Woodson, but the defense stepped up in their absence and won the Super Bowl.
The defense was too much for Pittsburgh: They shut down the run and caused three turnovers. They knew going in that when you win the turnover battle, you win the game.
They had a goal and they achieved it.
Green Bay's defenders picked off Ben Roethlisberger twice, taking one back for a touchdown, and forced Rashard Mendenhall to fumble.
The Steelers has two minutes to come back and win it. Everyone doubted Green Bay, but they proved everyone wrong and made the big stop. The defense played as one, and together, they took home the title.
2. Ben Roethlisberger
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Call it karma or just bad play, Big Ben forgot to pack his clutch gene for Super Bowl XLV.
He wasn't himself this game and the Steelers lost because of it.
Roethlisberger threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions, one of which went all the way for a Green Bay score. When you play that poorly you aren't going to win.
The millions that watched the game saw that the Steelers had two minutes to win it all. They did it in Super Bowl XLIII and just about everyone thought they were going to do it again—everyone but the Green Bay Packers.
Big Ben let his team down. If you had to choose one guy to pin the full blame on, Roethlisberger would be your guy.
1. Aaron Rodgers
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The MVP of Super Bowl XLV. Aaron Rodgers threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 111.5.
This was his time to shine and he took it and ran with it (or rather threw for it). Rodgers put this team on his back from Week 1 and led them all the way to the championship.
Rodgers was too much for the Steelers to handle. He had all the time he wanted to throw, and made the big throws he needed to.
Some of those throws were dropped by his receivers, so who knows how impressive his number could have actually been.
See ya in Disney World.
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