In a matter of days the Super Bowl 45 betting lines have been some of the closest in recent memory, as the spread between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers is only two and a half points. Two of the most storied franchises in NFL betting history, the 2010-11 edition of the Packers and Steelers are almost carbon copies of each other. Here are two factors that will be on full display come game time Sunday.

• Defense – The old adage of defense wins championships has never been truer in 2010-11. Dom Capers and Dick LeBeau the defensive coordinators of the Steelers and Packers are essentially identical to one another. Capers came up with the run defense that Pittsburgh has employed since 2003. As a result, in the last five years the Steelers have won two of the five potential Super Bowl trophies. What’s more, the 2010-11 Steelers emerged as one of the top five best defensive units since the NFL merger in 1970.

Conversely, the Green Bay Packers under Dick LeBeau, have adopted the Steelers model of defense, and have gone from being lit up by teams, to containing them to 16 points a game. Linebacker Clay Matthews has shown in the last year and a half that the days of Brian Urlacher and the Chicago Bears receiving all the praise in the NFC North, are over as Green Bay is the standard setter now.

• Experience vs. Inexperience – In sports we as fans look at all the statistics and at the end of the day the only statistic that really matters is the win and loss column. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Super Bowl is familiar territory, as since 2005, no team has been more dominant in the NFL.

On the contrary, the Green Bay Packers have finally built a winning team, and for the first time in 15 years they will be entertaining the possibility of winning the Super Bowl. Green Bay has yet to face adversity in these playoffs, while the Steelers narrowly defeated the Baltimore Ravens. When looking at these two teams, the safe bet is Pittsburgh because of their recent dominance.