The game plans for each team involved in Super Bowl 45 will be key to who covers the spread, and even more important, to the total.
Both teams are very likely to want drastically different game plans, so who will be more successful will be of paramount importance.
Pittsburgh traditionally prefers a slower pace with longer, drawn-out drives, which plays to their strength on offense in the run game, and additionally serves to keep their suffocating defense well-rested and limits the damage explosive offensive players on the opposing team can do.
However, Pittsburgh actually tends to run less against better teams, for a variety of reasons.
Green Bay will want an opposite game plan. They will be looking to maximize their offensive strength in the passing game, and will be looking to give themselves as many scoring opportunities on offense as possible, looking to get into a high-scoring shootout.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy, however, is not likely to abandon the run. He is known to believe that having a decent amount of rushing attempts is important, even if he is not getting a lot of yards per attempt.
And, the game plans of the two teams could drastically change as the game progresses. If Pitt falls behind early, they are likely to want to pass more. If Green Bay’s offensive line cannot hold off Pitt’s awesome pass rush, the Packers may opt to try to grind out a low-scoring game and steal it in the fourth quarter.