Viewers Pick Packers to Win Super Bowl XLV
If you’re a sports fan, you’ve likely heard the slogan “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” But viewers of this Sunday’s Super Bowl aren’t letting this claim impact their predictions. In fact, they’re predicting a loss for the team they think has the better defense and a better coach.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 48% of Adults Who Will Watch the Super Bowl think the Green Bay Packers will beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday’s championship game. Forty-one percent (41%), however, think the Steelers will win the Super Bowl. Another 11% aren’t sure who will win. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
More than half of fans (54%) want the Packers to win their first Super Bowl since 1996 and fourth in their history. Thirty-six percent (36%) want to see the Steelers win their seventh Super Bowl championship. Ten percent (10%) are undecided.
When it comes to offense, viewers give Green Bay the advantage. By a 48% to 35% margin, Super Bowl watchers think the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers is a better quarterback than Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, though 17% more are not sure.
Fifty-one percent (51%) say the Packers have the better overall offense in the match-up, while 34% say that of the Steelers. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.
However, 54% think the Steelers have the better defense, while just 31% say that of the Packers and 15% are undecided.
The Steelers also get the nod for best coach, with Mike Tomlin receiving 48% of the vote over Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Twenty-seven percent (27%) pick McCarthy, but 25% are not sure which team has the better coach.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults Who Will Watch the Super Bowl was conducted on February 1, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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