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Powered by three Pittsburgh Steelers turnovers and just enough brilliance from quarterback and game MVP Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers secured a pro football championship with a 31-25 win in Super Bowl XLV.
The win gives Green Bay a fourth Super Bowl title, and its first since 1996.
The Packers jumped out to an early 21-3 lead thanks to two Ben Roethlisberger interceptions - one of which was returned for a touchdown by Nick Collins - and two touchdown tosses from Rodgers, the first going to Jordy Nelson, the second to Greg Jennings. That lead would prove to be insurmountable, but Pittsburgh - six-time champions themselves - put up one hell of a fight to get back into it.
Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward for a touchdown to cut the Packers lead to 21-10 at halftime, and then Rashard Mendenhall opened up the third quarter with an eight-yard touchdown run to make it 21-17. Mendenhall, however, would later fumble, setting up a second Rodgers-to-Jennings touchdown. Pittsburgh answered when Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace from 25 yards out; Antwaan Randle-El scored on an option play for a two-point conversion to make it 28-25 in favor of Green Bay.
Mason Crosby added an insurance field goal, and Green Bay's defense got a stop on fourth down with under a minute left to seal the victory. Rodgers, who completed 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards, with three touchdowns and zero interceptions, was a shoo-in for MVP.
With that, we'll be without football for, at minimum, seven months. Not a bad way to go out.