Main as much as Tremendous Bowl XL between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks at Ford Discipline in Detroit, there was a ton of consideration on Seahawks’ star working again Shaun Alexander forward of his matchup with the vaunted Steelers’ protection.
In spite of everything, Alexander was coming into the largest stage within the NFL coming off of a historic season, wherein he received the NFL MVP award, was a first-team All-Professional, set the NFL file for touchdowns with 27 dashing touchdowns on the season, and averaged an absurd 117.5 yards per recreation on the bottom, ending the season 1,half of one mile on 370 carries.
He was going to be the X-factor within the recreation, and on the time many pundits believed he’d be adequate to carry the Seahawks over the cinderella-story Steelers, who had been the primary No. 6 seed to achieve the Tremendous Bowl.
However, for the Steelers’ protection, significantly Professional Bowl nostril sort out Casey Hampton, who appeared on the newest episode of the “Not Simply Soccer with Cam Heyward” podcast through the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers weren’t frightened concerning the Seahawks’ run recreation, as a result of they knew Seattle couldn’t run east and west towards them because of Pittsburgh’s skill to get upfield towards the run.
“I needed all that, man. Them guys, man, these NFC groups again then had been form of, they had been form of extra finesse. They wasn’t, accustomed to the bodily model of play and the way we performed the AFC. We had been a bodily staff. Going into the Tremendous Bowl, they had been speaking about him – Alexander – and the way he ran the ball and issues like that,” Hampton stated of the Seahawks’ run recreation with Alexander, based on video through the present’s YouTube web page. “However we knew working sideways, you’re not gonna have the ability to run, you’re not gonna run a ball on us as a result of we’re going to indent that line of scrimmage and we gonna rise up the sector and that’s not gonna occur, you realize what I imply?
“So, we wasn’t frightened concerning the run recreation.”
Hampton began off speaking about how he beloved taking part in the larger, bodily backs, however then he delved into the dialog relating to Tremendous Bowl XL towards the Seahawks.
That day, the Steelers completely dominated from begin to end. Pittsburgh held Alexander to 95 yards on 20 carries, 21 yards of which got here on one carry, which got here early within the third quarter with the Steelers in entrance, 14-3. That drive resulted in a Josh Brown missed 50-yard discipline aim, holding it a 14-3 recreation.
Finally, the Steelers stored Alexander in test, properly under his season common each recreation. The truth is, within the NFC Championship Recreation towards the Carolina Panthers two weeks prior, Alexander ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns to punch the Seahawks’ ticket to the Tremendous Bowl.
Towards the Steelers, he’d haven’t any such luck.
Though he averaged 4.5 yards per carry, there wasn’t a lot room to work with for Alexander, who got here into the sport averaging just below 25 carries per recreation. The Steelers managed the road of scrimmage and compelled the Seahawks to take to the air as quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tried 49 passes within the Tremendous Bowl — a season-high.
That sort of confidence that Hampton had with the Steelers’ protection was warranted. There weren’t a ton of huge names, however there have been some nice gamers that had been excellent suits inside their roles for the Steelers’ protection, and it helped the Steelers carry the Lombardi Trophy below head coach Invoice Cowher, capping off his Corridor of Fame profession.
Try the total interview with Hampton on the newest episode of “Not Simply Soccer with Cam Heyward” under.
