Both QB's threw up head-scratchers on critical drives, neither team could drum up a sustained running game, and both coaches looked bemused by their teams' execution. We're not talking about a preseason exhibition, that's the way Super Bowl XL looked.

In many ways the character of the game matched the season that spawned it, with no team consistently dominant from September through February. It seems that the long sought after parity has finally come home to roost in the NFL, and its nowhere more apparent than in how the Super Bowl has evolved.

The 80s Super Bowls were usually showcases for a season's dominant team. In the late 90s the championship became a target of opportunity for whichever franchise could get a group of hired guns to play well together. It's getting harder to keep teams together, from the front office through the practice squad, and the Super Bowl now seems to be up for grabs to whoever can string a few good quarters or even drives together at the right times in the playoffs and the big game.

Still, there were some good stories that came out of the Pittsburgh win, and the way which they made their run should give us Skins fans lots of hope that we could be just a few moves away from making a run at the trophy ourselves.