Green Bay Wins Super Bowl XLV With 31-25 Victory Over Pittsburgh

(NewsCore) - The Green Bay Packers held off a Pittsburgh Steelers rally Sunday to win 31-25 and claim Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium.

The Packers, making their first appearance since 1998, won their fourth Super Bowl title.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, playing in his maiden Super Bowl, was named MVP after throwing three touchdown passes and going 24 for 39 for 304 yards passing.

"This is a great group of men we've put together here. A lot of character, we've been through a lot together. It's just great to be able to share it with them," said Rodgers, 27.

Green Bay led 21-3 with 2:31 to go in the first half, but the Steelers hit back with touchdowns either side of the break to pull to within four points in Arlington, Texas.

Pittsburgh went into the final quarter with all the momentum, and looked as though they might break the record for the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history -- no team has ever overturned a deficit of more than 10 points to win.

But 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, with the Steelers second and two at the Green Bay 33-yard line, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews hit running back Rashard Mendenhall and forced a fumble, which swung the game back in Green Bay's favor.

On the ensuing drive, Rodgers hit Greg Jennings with an eight-yard pass and the Packers led by 11.

The Steelers would not go away, though, and four minutes later Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger brought his side within three points with a 25-yard pass to Mike Wallace for the touchdown, before Antwaan Randle El ran for the two-point conversion.

With 2:10 to go, Mason Crosby slotted a 23-yard field goal to open up the six-point advantage the Packers would not surrender.

"It was great resolve from our football team. It was just a tremendous effort and the Vince Lombardi trophy is going back home," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

Earlier, Rodgers found Jordy Nelson with a 29-yard pass, and Nick Collins had a 37-yard interception return to give the Packers a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

Rodgers then scored Jennings with a 21-yard pass with 2:31 on the clock in the second to open up an 18-point lead.

Pittsburgh countered with 47 seconds left in the first half, with Roethlisberger finding Hines Ward with an eight-yard pass.

With 10:25 left in the third quarter, the Steelers edged closer as Mendenhall capped a five-play, 50-yard drive with an eight-yard run to make it a four-point game.

The Steelers, playing in their third Super Bowl in six seasons, were seeking a seventh title. They won the title in 2006 and 2009.

The lead-up to the big game was marred as the NFL announced just moments before kickoff that 400 fans would be denied seats after temporary seating was deemed unsafe.

The league said 1,250 fans were impacted, and that 400 were turned away.

Those who were denied seats each received a refund of triple the cost of the $900 tickets.

Five-time Grammy Award winner Christina Aguilera opened the Super Bowl by flubbing the lyrics to the national anthem.

Early on in her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner," instead of singing "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming," Aguilera sang, "What so proudly we watched, at the twilight's last ...," followed by an unintelligible word.

The Black Eyed Peas headlined the halftime entertainment, and were joined by Slash and Usher. Australian country music star Keith Urban and Maroon 5 also performed.

Packers defensive end Jarius Wynn took home one trophy before the Super Bowl even started: his wife gave birth Sunday morning to a son at a Texas hospital, the Washington Post reported.

The paper said the couple was considering giving the baby the middle name "Super."