Super Bowl Countdown: On the Road to Tampa

[Editor's Note: With the Super Bowl only a few days away, SportsJudge continues it's daily coverage of the big game with a preview from Matt Cohen, Senior Deputy Justice of SportsJudge.com. Don't forget to check out yesterday's first preview from Mike Colligan if you haven't already and be sure to stay tuned for different perspectives on Super Sunday every day this week at 1pm.]

Super Bowl XLIII is a tale of two franchises that couldn't be more different from each other. On the one hand you have the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh is trying to become the first team in NFL History to win 6 Super Bowls, in this, their 7th Super Bowl appearance. They have one of the best owners in all of sports in the Rooney's, and entered this season just as they have for most of the previous 15 years, as one of the favorites to win the AFC Championship. The Arizona Cardinals on the other hand have not won 10 games in a season since 1976 (By comparison the Steelers have won at least 10 games 14 times since 1976), and had their first winning season since 1998. The Cardinals have one of the worst and cheapest owners in all of sports in the Bidwell's, and entered the season just as they always do, as huge underdogs to make any kind of run to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers have the league's #1-ranked defense and it is this defense that will have to win the game for them. Pittsburgh has the best safety (Troy Polamalu) and the best LB (James Harrison) in the league. Harrison was not only the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year (and top fantasy defensive player leading my team into the postseason!!!), but he is the biggest game-changer on either side of the field in this Super Bowl. Harrison had 16 sacks and 7 forced fumbles during the regular season and in order for Pittsburgh to win he will have to get to the QB. By getting pressure on Warner (something the Eagles had a lot of trouble with), Harrison will go a long way towards stopping Arizona's #1-ranked Passing Offense. If this pressure leads to a few turnovers for the Pittsburgh defense, it could lead to an easy day for the Steelers. On offense, Big Ben will do what he always does; he won't be flashy but he will make the necessary plays to have Pittsburgh in position to win the game.

Speaking of turnovers, it's the Arizona defense which has been leading the league throughout the postseason with 11 turnovers in their 3 playoff games. Clancy Pendergast's crew has been on an incredible role this postseason. Arizona has several big name players on defense including Carlos Dansby, Adrian Wilson, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie; but as a whole the defense was inconsistent throughout the regular season. Will the defense of the past 3 games show up in the Super Bowl or will the defense revert back to it's regular season form? Personally, I think it is more likely that it'll be somewhere in the middle. The defense has clearly improved but they can't expect to get the same amount of turnovers they have been getting over the previous 3 postseason games, and as a result the only way Arizona is winning is if Kurt Warner and the offense outplays that vaunted Pittsburgh defense.

Everyone talks about the 2 big WRs in Arizona, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, but to me the two players to look out for if Arizona is going to win this game are Steve Breaston, who had 77 Catches 1,006 Yards 3 TD in the 2008 Regular Season (7 Catches for 70 Yards in the Postseason) and Jerheme Urban, who had 34 Catches 448 Yards 4 TD (Only 5 Catches for 30 Yards in the Postseason). Urban has had his best games when going against the best passing defenses. Against the Giants he caught 5 catches for 69 yards and against the Vikings he caught 3 catches for 82 yards and 1 TD. These defenses, much like the Pittsburgh defense will be able to do, can somewhat contain the big 3 WRs, leaving Urban open with a chance to move the ball down the field.

Finally a quick mention of the coaches. While Mike Tomlin is an excellent coach, but Ken Whisenhunt has proven himself to be one of the smartest coaches in the league time and time again. I'm still amazed at his attempt for a free kick in the regular season. As a result, I don't see any Charger or Falcon-like letdown where they are just happy to be in the Super Bowl. Whisenhunt is going to have his team ready to show the Steelers that they made a mistake in passing on him for head coach, and more importantly will have his team in position to win the championship.

This is a strange game for me. I usually always root for Pittsburgh if its an AFC game. I really like Heinz Field, I like their fans, I like the terrible towel, I like their owner, and I like Steely McBeam (best mascot in the NFL!). That being said however, I really like Kurt Warner from his time on the Giants, he was very good with Eli and I would be happy to see him win another championship. At 45-1 odds going into the season to win the championship and still 40-1 odds to win the championship entering the playoffs, nobody expected the Cardinals to have any chance at winning it all this year, but they will continue to surprise.

Prediction: I just have a strange feeling that the Cards are going to win and Kurt Warner is going to win another MVP. Cardinals 31 - Steelers 28.

Related Posts by Subject