Jan 27th, 2008 – Cardinal Sin
A suckage disclosure: Before getting going on this annual tradition of choosing the Super Bowl champeen, I should mention that I picked the Steelers to finish second in the AFC North behind the Cleveland Browns. As for the Cardinals, they also were supposed to be runners up in the NFC West behind the (ahem) Seattle Seahawks. Neither would go very far in the post-season with the eventual winners being the Colts over the Dallas Cowboys.
Therefore, as I said before – I suck.
Then again, so does everyone else. Nobody predicted this match-up in September. It’s hard to believe now. It was just a little more than a month ago that the Cardinals lost to the Patriots by 40 frikin’ points, but some how, some way, they have managed to win four in a row.
The Steelers vs. the Cardinals
Read that line and weep. The league’s spin machine is out in full force. The NFL and its minions in the press are trying to paint this as a match-up that could result in, according to at least three prominent NFL writers, a “classic.”
What could their rational be, seeing as Arizona were a 9-7 team in the regular season who depended on going 4-0 in their Downy-soft division to even make the post-season? Well, besides the obligatory “they are hot” and appear to have “destiny” on their side, mostly it’s because their head coach Ken Whisenhunt knows the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offence because he “helped design it” and his system enabled the Steelers to win a Super Bowl just three years ago.
The only problem with that is the Steelers defensive co-coordinator, Dick LeBeau, knows the Cardinals offence better than anyone else does, having practiced against it and Whisenhunt for years.
So – who are you gonna believe in more? Arizona’s offense or Pittsburgh’s defense?
In Super Bowls in particular, it’s the defense that matters most. In this one defense will make it a painful experience for both the Cardinals and fans looking for a good game alike. This version of Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain ranked first in the league in scoring defense, allowing only 223 points, and was also ranked No.1 in total defense and pass defense. They finished second to Minnesota in run defense, which kept them from becoming the first team to lead the league in all four categories since the 1970 merger.
No matter what Whisenhunt knows about the Steelers when they have the ball, it’s when they don’t that he should be most concerned about. History also counts for something. For the Cardinals, winning the thing would be a miracle. For the Steelers, it’s expected. Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, they have made the playoffs 24 times and won a league-best 19 division titles. Only Dallas, with 25 playoff appearances, has been in the postseason more often. With a win on Sunday, they’ll have captured their sixth Lombardi trophy, a league record.
Counter that with Arizona and this being their very first Super Bowl appearance. Entering this season, they had a total of two post-season wins in their 79-year history – the last coming 1998. Prior to that, it was in 1947 when they won the NFL title.
This may well turn out to be a “classic” because that label can be used for both good and evil.
More likely than a great football game that will be remembered through the ages like, say like last year’s, this will turn out to be a classic mismatch between a team that should have been there and another that clearly shouldn’t.
And it seems, despite the league’s best efforts, everyone knows it. The game still hasn’t sold out its advertising inventory. Scalpers are still flogging tickets – at face value. The Commish Roger Goodell says they are going low key on the events surrounding the game due to the economy, but the reality is, corporate sponsorship would be going gaga over a better pairing.
Last year’s game drew 97.5 million viewers, the second-largest television audience ever, behind the final episode of “M*A*S*H.” The nine most-viewed TV shows since 2000 have all been Super Bowls.
There are two sure bets on this one…
First, the Steelers will win comfortably, something like 28-13.
Second, that consecutive streak of record audiences will come to an end.
Cheers – Gavin McDougald – AKA Couch
