The Banner’s “Ask the Experts” segment, in which members of the Sports section faced off against each other by selecting the winner of the week’s premier sports matchups, has finally come to a close. The two competitors left standing at the end are online editor Ryan Smith (19-13) and print editor Alex Settle (18-14), who will have one final showdown in the biggest sporting event of the year: the Super Bowl. Ryan selected the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Alex picked the Green Bay Packers. Winner takes the “Ask the Experts” title. Here’s a short transcript of how their pregame chat went down.
Alex: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has the most to play for, and the Packers’ offense is virtually unstoppable. I don’t think the Steelers will be able to keep up.
Ryan: The Eagles, with a leaky defense, stopped the Packers pretty effectively. The Steelers should be able to do the same.
Alex: The Packers then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the #1-seeded Falcons and put up 21 against the Bears, who do not have a leaky defense. Also they held Michael Vick and the seemingly unstoppable Eagles defense to 16 points.
Ryan: 21 points against the Bears, including one defensive touchdown, isn’t anything to write home about. Plus, they haven’t faced anything like the Steelers’ defense, who held eight of their last nine opponents under 20 points. They should be able to make the Packers one-dimensional fairly easy, since Green Bay’s running game is nothing too special.
Alex: The intangibles must be taken into account. If Rodgers wins he becomes the next Steve Young and officially leaves the shadow of Brett Favre. Roethlisberger already has a ring and he also missed the first four games of this season. What kind of Cinderella story is that?
Ryan: Roethlisberger’s motivation is pretty simple: If he wins, it’s tough not to regard him as an elite quarterback even with all the problems he’s had. It’s the ultimate redemption.
Alex: But his beard is not okay.
Check back after the game for the editors’ opinion as well as the crowning of the “Ask the Experts” champion. In the meantime, which side do you pick?