In the happy child's dream, of course, the pass is always complete. That's how it works with kids playing football in the backyard. It's always third-and-10, it's the fourth quarter, it's the Super Bowl. In the dream, every receiver is covered, but throwing the ball away is not an option, and taking a sack is not an option, and the sound of footsteps grows louder, they are getting closer, time runs out. In the dream -- but wait! There's an glimmer of something. A tiny opening. A receiver's hand. Something to aim at. The throw will have to be perfect. But if it's thrown just right ...

In the dream, the pass is always completed. Success is so easy to imagine when you're a kid. And maybe that was Aaron Rodgers' secret Sunday night under the world's largest television screen in America's biggest game. Maybe even after everything that comes with being an adult and the Green Bay Packers quarterback -- even after dealing with the absurd pressure of replacing the most popular man in the history of Wisconsin, even after Rodgers' first dreadful season, after absorbing the thrashings of a league-high 50 sacks in the second season, after this wonderful and trying Packers season with two concussions, beat up teammates and a five-week series of must-win games -- maybe even after all that he still had enough of that little kid in him to believe.

For a long night in Super Bowl XLV, the Green Bay Packers always seemed one great play away from finishing off Pittsburgh. There were all sorts of clashing theories going into the game, like always, but one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that the game would be close. There did not seem a reasonable scenario for a blowout. Both teams came in with terrific quarterbacks and terrific defenses and a certain faith in their own team's history. The Steelers have won six Super Bowl trophies, more than any other team, and those Super Bowl trophies are named for the Packers legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Players on both teams are taught...