"I've been busy but I thoroughly have been enjoying it. It's better than the other way around," says Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews during his recent interview on WFAN in New York (via Sports Radio Interviews). He understood that he didn't have the glamorous role as the spy on QB Ben Roethlisberger during the Super Bowl. But he also knows that it helped get him a ring.
One of my biggest concerns going into the Super Bowl was that the Steelers and RB Rashard Mendenhall were going to be able to run against them. Kevin Seifert points out how the Steelers plan was to run right at Matthews, and it worked for much of the game. However "turnovers are the great equalizer" and the fumble Matthews forced was Mendenhall's last carry of the game (although it happened on the first play of the fourth quarter).
The Steelers might have been their own worst enemy on that fumble. Ben Muth at Football Outsiders pointed out that for much of the game, LG Chris Kemoeatu and TE Heath Miller were blocking Matthews. But on the fumble, they had C Doug Legursky pull to block Matthews. Instead he got tangled up with his full back, and Matthews was in the backfield unblocked. It's great to have a playmaker like Matthews who can take advantage of a missed block when the situation presents itself.