Contrasts create Super Bowl intrigue

SEATTLE – The contrasts between the Steelers and the Seahawks make this a fascinating Super Bowl matchup.

Add a few subplots, and Pittsburgh vs. Seattle could be one of the best ever.

Going into its sixth championship game, Pittsburgh would seem like a seasoned contender. The Seahawks are going for the first time in their 30-year history and last week won their first playoff game in 21 years.

Consider history, and things look good for Pittsburgh. Consider this season, though, and it works the other way.

The Seahawks entered the playoffs as the NFC’s top-seeded team. The Steelers were the last seed in the AFC, the first sixth-seed ever to make it to the big game and only the second team ever to get there by winning three games on the road.

The oddsmakers favor the Steelers by 3 1/2 points for the game in Detroit in two weeks.

The way these teams are playing now make a close, hard-fought game seem like a real possibility: Seattle’s 34-14 victory over Carolina on Sunday was its 13th win in 14 games. Pittsburgh’s 34-17 win in Denver was its seventh in a row.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had five interceptions in two playoff games as a rookie last season, has only one in three postseason games this year and has thrown for three touchdowns.

Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck, who had lost his first two playoff games as a starter, has also blossomed in these playoffs. He was 20 of 28 for 219 yards and two touchdowns Sunday; the week before, he carried the Seahawks past Washington.

The Steelers have been traditionally known for defense and were all over Denver’s Jake Plummer on Sunday, forcing two interceptions and sacking him three times.

But Seattle’s defense, overshadowed by the NFL’s highest-scoring offense in the regular season, showed what it can do Sunday by shutting down the league’s hottest postseason QB, the Panthers’ Jake Delhomme.

The coaches are another even match.

Seattle’s Mike Holmgren and Pittsburgh’s Bill Cowher both became head coaches in 1992 and are the league’s two longest-tenured in that position. Cowher has been with Pittsburgh for his whole career; Holmgren moved to Seattle in 1999.

Holmgren won one Super Bowl with the Packers and lost another. Cowher’s Steelers lost the 1996 Super Bowl to Dallas and are 2-4 in AFC title games.

There might be one factor favoring the Steelers. They play one of the most effective 3-4 defenses in the NFL. Seattle played only one 3-4 all season – against Dallas – and had all kinds of trouble with it.

What could also help the Seahawks is that despite all of Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl experience as a franchise, only one Steeler has been there – little-used cornerback Willie Williams, a starter on that ‘96 team.

Seattle actually has five who have been there with other teams: wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, center Robbie Tobeck, defensive end Grant Wistrom, defensive tackle Chuck Darby and punter Tom Rouen.

Yes, an even game.