A Blue Collar Super Bowl

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, two of the NFL's most storied and popular franchises who have won nine Super Bowl titles between themselves, will try for a tenth in Arlington, Texas two weeks from now.

The Packers won the NFC championship in Chicago with a 21-14 victory over the Bears, in their first playoff meeting since 1941.  Green Bay, behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers and their defense, kept the Bears behind the eight ball for most of the game.  It didn't help matters for Chicago when starting quarterback Jay Cutler went out with a knee injury and his replacement Todd Collins got booed off the field, leaving third-stringer Caleb Hanie to mount what turned out to be a failed fourth-quarter comeback

The Steelers beat the New York Jets 24-19, winning the AFC championship before the home fans in Pittsburgh.  Again, as in the other game, it was defense and a big lead that carried the Steelers for most of the game before they staved off a second half Jets comeback.  New York still hasn't made the Super Bowl since the Joe Namath era.

All right, who had the Steelers and the Packers as the final two?  Both teams had unspectacular regular seasons, but Pittsburgh managed to win their division and play at home during the playoffs while Green Bay did not.  The Packers had to beat Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago on the road as the sixth seed, and did so impressively.

So, cheeseheads and Terrible Towels, unite!  Let the hype begin.