Can we please stop mentioning Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre in the same sentence now? Rodgers wasn’t spectacular in Green Bay’s 31-25 Super Bowl XLV win over Pittsburgh, but he deserves some credit. He won his first playoff game and Super Bowl in the same season and did something Favre never did—earn Super Bowl MVP honors.

Rodgers was 24-of-39 passing for 304 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He lacked touch and accuracy at some points during the game, but his receivers also had some key dropped passes. Who knows? Jordy Nelson might have been named MVP if he had hauled in each of his three big drops. Instead, Rodgers earned the honors with a 111.5 quarterback rating for the game. His admirable all-road game postseason run to a Super Bowl championship should erase Green Bay’s separation anxiety from Favre once and for all.

Rodgers had help though. Greg Jennings was arguably as important with two touchdown receptions. Nelson finished with nine catches, 140 yards and a touchdown. 21 of Green Bay’s 31 points came off Pittsburgh turnovers.

The Packers scored first with their second drive of the game. It went for 80 yards and ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Nelson. Ben Roethlisberger proceeded to throw a pick-six on the first play from scrimmage following the touchdown. Nick Collins intercepted and ran it in from 37 yards out. Roethlisberger was intercepted again two drives later near midfield. Green Bay scored four plays later to take a 21-3 lead just shy of two and a half minutes left in the first half.

Roethlisberger had only five picks in 12 regular season games, but already had two in this one. The Steelers scored just before halftime off an 8-yard Hines Ward touchdown reception to make it 21-10, but faced an uphill battle as no team in Super Bowl history had overcome more than a 10-point deficit to win.

The momentum shifted in the second half when the Steelers went back to basics with their run game. Green Bay’s drives kept failing and failed to put any points up in third quarter. The Steelers took advantage and scored on a Rashard Mendenhall run. Pittsburgh was 33 yards from gaining the lead in the fourth quarter but Clay Matthews stripped Mendenhall and Green Bay recovered. The Packers again cashed in on the third Pittsburgh turnover with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jennings.

Roethlisberger led a comeback on the next drive that ended in a 25-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. Pittsburgh converted for two points off a nifty shovel pass in a rare Antwaan Randle El sighting. Green Bay’s lead shortened to 28-25. The Packers could only get a field goal after taking five minutes off the clock and Pittsburgh had a chance with just over two minutes left. It was a familiar feeling for Roethlisberger who has been in plenty of big, game-winning drives. But, he managed only one first down this time and threw three straight incomplete passes for a turnover on downs.

Roethlisberger had no help. Ward finished with three catches for 39 yards. Defensive Player of the Year Troy Polamalu and James Harrison barely contributed. The Packers became the second No. 6 seed to win the Super Bowl. The 2005 Steelers were the other.

In related news, Christina Aguilera botched the lyrics to the national anthem and the Black Eyed Peas again played no instruments at halftime. Six people were injured earlier in the week when ice fell form the roof of the stadium. Because of it, 1,250 temporary seats were deemed unsafe hours before kickoff and stadium workers scrambled to fix the problems as teams warmed up. About 400 people couldn’t be seated and the league offered refunds of triple the ticket price. Some of the seats carried pricetags of $800 and up. It seems that the $1.2 billion stadium was not prepare for that kind of weather.

2012 Super Bowl Winner Odds (provided by Titan Bet)

Green Bay Packers: 6/1

New England Patriots: 9/1

San Diego Chargers: 10/1

Philadelphia Eagles: 12/1

Pittsburgh Steelers: 12/1

Atlanta Falcons: 14/1

Dallas Cowboys: 14/1

Indianapolis Colts: 14/1

New Orleans Saints: 14/1

Baltimore Ravens: 16/1

New York Jets: 16/1

New York Giants: 20/1

Chicago Bears: 33/1

Houston Texans: 33/1

Kansas City Chiefs: 40/1

Oakland Raiders: 40/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 40/1

Denver Broncos: 50/1

Miami Doplhins: 50/1

Minnesota Vikings: 50/1

San Francisco 49ers: 50/1

St. Louis Rams: 50/1