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Well, that was a disappointing loss, but you don't win Superbowls with three turnovers that all lead to touchdowns, including a truly boneheaded pick six. I know Rogers won MVP, but, and maybe this is because his receivers kept dropping passes, I thought that despite his impressive stats at game end he looked like an ordinary, workmanlike quarterback. The guy whose single play did more than anything to prevent a Steelers comeback was Clay Matthews. Also, he's got dreamy eyes and looks like Thor, whereas Aaron Rogers looks like a guy who sells smokes at the Circle K around the corner.

Eh. If Pittsburgh had to lose, I'm glad it was to Green Bay. It was a great game, wasn't it? Unlike so many Superbowls, it didn't turn into an insipid, quiet affair. It was as good and rough-house as a divisional game, and yet it seemed to me--did anyone else notice?--that the guys really liked each other, that after the faux bonhomie of the pre-AFC championship week, Pittsburgh's Mike McCarthy's Pack and Tomlin's Steelers were laughing and smiling an awful lot on the field.

Additional silver lining: we will not have to hear any more about how Roethlisberger's three rings outweigh his two sexual assaults. The loss is in this sense a regrettable outcome that I will have trouble regretting.

On a related note, a good friend points out to me that Geno Malkin tore up his knees and is out for the season. If he goes on IR, our Pens have a few million bucks under the cap to toss around before the trade deadline. Who's the dirty birds now?