Don't blow off this Super Bowl yet. A lot of my friends have been complaining about how dull the game is going to be, saying things like "The Cardinals?! Come on!" Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers are probably favored (heavily) against the Arizona Cardinals, but this is actually a much more interesting and potentially intense match up than the initial stats may reveal.
Offense: The match-up isn't going to be Kurt Warner against Ben Roethlisberger. It is going to be Kurt Warner against the Steelers' pass rush and the safety play of Troy Polamalu. The Steeler's offense is built to do one thing: score enough points to give their defense an edge, and stay on the field long enough to give their defense some rest. Don't expect Big Ben to come up with his guns slinging and throwing the ball every witch way. Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward may have the big play receiver ability in them, but their offense is going to be centered around Willie Parker against the 16th ranked pass defense of Arizona. If Kurt Warner can come out strong like he did in the huge upset against the Philedelphia Eagles by throwing 3 first half touchdowns to Larry Fitzgerald against the Steeler's defense, then expect a third MVP award to go to his way. If not, Edgerrin James will have to step up, but it'll be hard to do that against the #1 ranked defense in the 2008 regular season. But here are some reassuring facts for the Cardinals: Kurt Warner is statistically the best quarterback against the blitz, and he put a giant exclamation mark on that fact against the Eagles Sunday.
Defense: The Arizona Cardinals are actually more evenly matched with the Steeler's offense than it may seem. Big Ben was one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the season (and almost every season), and Adrian Wilson will create pressure. The real question is which corner will match up against the physical play of Hines Ward, and which linebacker will step up against Willie Parker. The match up of the Steeler's D against Arizona's O has already been mentioned.
Interesting Notes: Cardinal's coach Ken Whisenhunt and assistant coach Russ Grimm were both neglected the head coaching job in Pittsburgh when Bill Cowher retired. Now, Whisenhunt turned a 9-7 regular season #4 seed team (the fact that they were division leaders allowed them to be the first #4 seed to host a conference championship game ever) into NFC champions with a franchise who has never gone to the Super Bowl. The Steelers, on the other hand, are going for the NFL record: a sixth Super Bowl title. No team in NFL history has ever won 6 (although I'm sure Tom Brady would like to try and do that too). The Steelers are used to playing in messy weather, and the last time a Super Bowl was hosted in Florida (Colts v Bears in 2006), it was a slopfest. But preliminary reports say the weather should be very comfortable, so the Steelers won't have a weather advantage over the aerial attack of the Cardinals. Although the Cardinals are heavy underdogs, Kurt Warner was (somewhat controversially) given the starting job over Matt Leinart when the regular season started for this purpose alone: carry this team to their first Super Bowl title. Warner may be old, but he's still young enough to remember his Super Bowl MVP titles. Maybe if the Cardinals had a receiver who won the Super Bowl twice before, it wouldn't matter as much. But this is their starting quarterback who pushed their franchise QB into the backseat for the year. And he has been nothing short of spectacular so far in the postseason. And Big Ben doesn't exactly have stellar numbers in his postseason career: 151 of 248 completed passes, 1983 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, although he is 7-2 in his career. In comparison to the (older) veteran Warner: 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Cardinals and Steelers rarely meet, ever, so expect most of the strategy to be from the film and not previous experiences. Although here's an interesting tid-bit: the Steelers are 5-3 against the Cardinals, but the Cardinals won their last meeting (September 30, 2007) 21-14. The last time they played against the Steelers before that: 2003, where they lost. So I would give the history edge to the Cards, given their victory was fairly recent (heck, maybe Matt Leinart started that 2007 game). Oh, and make sure you get to your TV early: Whisenhunt will probably try some trick plays early in the game to throw off the Steeler's defense, and to see where his offense stands in comparison to the opposing D. If they pull off a trick play successfully, watch for the flood gates to pour open in the second half, ESPECIALLY if the game is in the hands of Kurt Warner.
Prediction: Steelers 27 Cardinals 17. There is absolutely no reason anyone should think the Cardinals will win, unless they are a Cardinals fan. But I personally will be cheering for Kurt Warner. Especially since if he wins a third Super Bowl MVP title, the off-season in regards to Matt Leinart's fate will be very interesting.
Thanks to ESPN and Yahoo! Sports for the stats.
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