The Seahawks and Steelers meet for all the marbles

Seattle (15-3 SU/11-6-1 ATS) made it to their first-ever Super Bowl with two home playoff wins. After a first-round bye, they beat the Redskins 20-10 as -10 point favs to advance to the NFC Championship Game, where they manhandled Carolina 34-14 as -4 point chalks. League MVP Shaun Alexander, who missed most of the Washington game with a concussion, rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Panthers. QB Matt Hasselbeck completed 20-of-28 passes for 219 yards and two TD's as Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in its 30-year history. Alexander carried the ball 34 times and showed no ill-effects from his concussion. Seattle outgained the Panthers 393-212, had a 27-11 edge in FD's and the Seahawks' defense shut down the Panthers by forcing four turnovers.

For Pittsburgh (14-5 SU/12-7 ATS), it was a tougher journey getting to the big game. They won three consecutive playoff games on the road and became just the second team to accomplish that feat since the 1985 New England Patriots. In Week 1 of the playoffs, they knocked off Cincinnati 31-17 as -3 point favorites. In Week 2, they shocked the world with a 21-18 win over the high-powered Colts as +10 point dogs. In the AFC title game, they posted a relatively easy 34-17 win at Denver as +3 point dogs. Against the Broncos, QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 21-of-29 passes for 275 yards and two TD's without an interception as the Steelers became the first sixth seed in NFL history to advance to the Super Bowl. Cedrick Wilson had five catches for 92 yards with a touchdown and Hines Ward added 59 yards and a score on five receptions for Pittsburgh, which won the AFC Championship Game for just the second time in six tries under head coach Bill Cowher. The Steelers had dropped their last three championship games, all at home, and will be seeking their first Super Bowl win in 26 years.

The Seattle offense ranks 2nd in the NFL with 369 ypg, while the Steelers offense ranks 15th with 321 ypg. Defensively, Pittsburgh comes in ranked 4th in the NFL (283 ypg), while Seattle ranks 17th, allowing 316 ypg. Both teams protect the ball well. In their five combined playoff games, the offenses gave the ball away only twice each and Hasselbeck and Roethlisberger had a combined one interception in 126 attempts. Roethlisberger has thrown just 10 interceptions in 340 attempts on the season, while Hasselbeck has tossed nine picks in 341 passes. Seattle committed just 17 turnovers during the regular season, second fewest in the league, and Pittsburgh had 23, the sixth fewest.

In order for the Seahawks to be successful in this game, Alexander will have to be able to run the ball to open up the passing game. He averaged 117.5 ypg and 5.1 ypc to lead the Seahawks NFL 3rd-ranked rushing "O". He had 12 games with 100-plus yards and six games with 140 yards or more and the Seahawks are 12-0 SU and 9-3 ATS when he tops 100 yards in a game. In contrast, the Pittsburgh defense, which ranked No. 3 in the league against the rush, surrendered only 86 yards per game.

The Steelers gave up just 3.4 yards per carry, a league low, and surrendered just seven runs of 20 yards or more. Most significantly perhaps is the fact that Pittsburgh has allowed just one 100-yard rusher in their last 32 games. Seattle is 6-2-1 ATS the last nine meetings with the Steelers (5-0 ATS last five), with the last one coming in the 2003 regular season, a 23-16 home win for the Seahawks (-5). Seattle is also 9-2 ATS when playing on turf. Pittsburgh comes in 9-2 ATS in their last 11 road games and 17-6 ATS when favored between -3½ and -9½ points.