Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals
Current Line: Pittsburgh by 7
After a wild and unexpected NFL season and playoffs, we are left with two teams in the Super Bowl that got here two very different ways. I’ll break it down here and tell you which way it’s going to go. Then, as you probably guessed, I’m going to get straight to preparing one of my famous turduckens for Sunday’s game according to mama’s recipe (check the site for the recipe). But for now, here’s how it’ll play out:
The Arizona Cardinals – a team that no one thought would be here at the beginning of the season – seem like a team of destiny as veteran quarterback Kurt Warner somehow got his sluggish team to peak just in time for the playoffs to get them to Tampa. Warner has put up some of the best stats in playoff history as has his freakish wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has already passed Jerry Rice for most yards in a postseason in NFL history. Anquan Boldin has had 2 weeks to rest his injured hamstring and should be close to full strength. Edgerrin James has found new life and is running better than he has all year. The Cardinals have been clicking, that much is obvious. Whether the Steelers can trip them up is the question.
Pittsburgh, as usual, has relied on its impressive defense to plod impressively through the regular season and playoffs. Even though they benefited from a depleted Ravens secondary in the AFC Championship game, Pittsburgh did their job in proving they are the best team in the AFC this year. Ben Roethisberger has been even a better leader than during the Steelers’ Super Bowl season a few years ago, and Willie Parker, much like Anquan Boldin, should be close to 100% after struggling with injuries this season. The Cardinals had trouble with the run on the edges, and Parker should find some space there to keep the Steelers offense respectfully moving. All of this is to say that the Steelers’ offense is poised to keep the ship steady so that their defense can dominate. So will they?
Even though the Steelers seem like the better team on paper, few have noted that they only played 7 teams with winning records this season, compared to the Cardinals who played 8. You might also be interested to know that Big Ben’s TD to INT ratio is close to 1:1 whereas Kurt Warner’s is 2:1. Not to mention that this will be Warner’s third Super Bowl appearance. Besides the misconceptions on which team is actually stronger on paper, the Cardinals are riding high. Warner, the ultimate underdog, leading an underdog team, seems like they are playing with some sort of magic ingredient that can defy what any defense can throw at them, even the Steelers. But will the real Cardinals please stand up? Like the team that lost to the Patroits 47-7 in late December? The Cardinals have been up and down all season, which means we are due for a dip. The Eagles exposed the Cardinals and gave their confidence a big chink in the armor during the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship. The Steelers defense will take up right there. And Troy Polamalu is a difference maker. The Steelers aren’t afraid to blitz and keep Warner guessing, and we saw what happened when the Eagles finally rattled him. No, the dream is over for the Cardinals, although it’s hard not to root for this storybook ending. But we don’t root, we predict. And the Steelers win.
Steelers defeat the Cardinals, 26-20
