Skysports.com examines the Super Bowl pedigree of the Steelers and Packers ahead of the big game.
Skysports.com examines the Super Bowl pedigree of the Steelers and Packers
Two of the NFL's most storied franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, collide in Super Bowl XLV in Arlington on Sunday.
And to get you in the mood,
skysports.com takes a look back over their combined 11 previous appearances in the showpiece event.
Steel Curtain
The Pittsburgh Steelers equalled the Dallas Cowboys' record of eight Super Bowl visits with their win over the New York Jets in the AFC title game, and now they look to extend their lead in Super Bowl victories.
The Steelers are the only franchise ever to win the championship on six occasions, the first of which came back in Super Bowl IX in 1975.
They were 16-6 winners over the Minnesota Vikings in a match-up of two of the best defences in NFL history - their Steel Curtain and the Vikings' Purple People Eaters.
MVP Franco Harris rushed for a score and Larry Brown hauled in a pass from Terry Bradshaw, who would play a starring role the next season in a 21-17 win over Dallas.
He and kicker Roy Gerela helped rally the Steelers from 10-7 down at the half, with his 64-yard pass to Lynn Swann giving Pittsburgh a lead they would hold on to.
Three years would pass before their next visit, and again it was the Cowboys playing hapless victim as Bradshaw threw four touchdown passes in a 35-31 triumph that only became close late on with two Dallas scores.
Twelve months later Bradshaw secured his fourth ring, although this time in a come-from-behind 31-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams, a game that Harris won with two touchdowns.
The Cowboys secured a little revenge in 1996 with a 27-17 success in Arizona and it took until 2006 for the Steelers to reach another Super Bowl, this time getting back to winnings ways by beating Seattle 21-10.
The modern Steelers won again in 2009, this time breaking the record of five Super Bowl titles the Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers previously shared with them.
A roster more like the one that will turn out at Cowboys Stadium beat Arizona 27-23 in thrilling fashion, Santonio Holmes making an amazing catch 35 seconds from time to secure a sixth Super Bowl for the men in black and yellow.
Lombardi's legends
The Green Bay Packers secured their fifth trip to the Super Bowl with victory over fierce rivals the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game, their first visit to the big game since 1998.
The first of those came all the way back in January 1967 under the guidance of legendary head coach Vince Lombardi.
Lombardi's team had gone 14-2 in reaching a clash with the Kansas City Chiefs, one in which they never trailed before winning 35-10 on the back of a fine performance on both sides of the ball.
Bart Starr threw two touchdown passes and Elijah Pitts rushed for two more as the Chiefs were comprehensively beaten.
A year later, with Lombardi still at the helm, the Packers went to the Orange Bowl in Miami to take on the Oakland Raiders, who were little more of a match in a 33-14 romp.
Don Chandler kicked 15 points, Starr threw a 62-yard bomb to Boyd Dowler and Herb Adderley ran home an interception from 60 yards as the Packers dominated.
It would be nearly 30 years before their next Super Bowl visit, with Brett Favre collecting the sole ring of his career in a game where he linked up with Andre Rison and Antonio Freeman for touchdowns.
The game was still in the melting pot in the third quarter before Desmond Howard's record 99-yard kickoff return touchdown and their defence did the rest in a 35-21 victory.
Again they managed back-to-back appearances in 1998 but were undone by the Denver Broncos, who prevailed thanks to Terrell Davis' three-touchdown effort.
