Photo Gallery: Eye on the opponent
There's an unwritten "24-hour rule" in football. It's something that just happens for players, that after 24 hours following a win or a loss you forget about it and move on.
It's pretty easy to do in the heat of a regular season, when you have a short time frame before the next game.
But when a loss comes at a crucial time, it takes a lot longer to move on, a lot longer to get over. Sometimes, players never do.
That is the case for several Steelers who will never forget the pain of losing Super Bowl XLV in February, 2011 to the Green Bay Packers, 31-25.
"Losing the Super Bowl, you can't let that go," said cornerback Ike Taylor, who was a part of the Steelers Super Bowl XL and XLIII championship teams. "That is a game you always remember, you wish you could have had and reflect back to.
"I cried after that game. It doesn't hit you until you walk off the field and see everybody with the confetti and see their families running out on the field. That is when it hits you. You never get over that."
With this Sunday being the first rematch against the Green Bay Packers since Super Bowl XLV, the pain is being revisited.
The Steelers will have a chance not to make up for the loss, not to put it behind them, but to hopefully get the better of the Packers this Sunday at Lambeau Field as both teams still hold on to playoff hopes, even if they are slim.
"It's going to be a good game this week, a rematch of the Super Bowl," said safety Will Allen. "It's going to be fun playing against those guys. I think the fact that we want to finish strong is motivation enough for all of us, regardless of who we are playing. That should be the mentality of everybody.
"You hate to lose period. But the fact they beat us in the Super Bowl, you always remember that. That was my one and only time going to the Super Bowl and to lose it was tough."
