Super Bowl XLIII Preview
Arizona Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Steelers
By: Lucas Saunders
Well as far as this season went for the NFL, best word to put it as is Bizarre!
You go back to Tom Brady’s season ending injury, the Hochuli call between the
Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers that gave the Broncos a win on a
horrible call, the benching of Donavan McNabb even though the Eagles still
made the playoffs, and of course, the Detroit Lions going 0-16. What else could
we expect? Well who would’ve thought the 8-8 Division winner Arizona Cardinals
would be in the Super bowl? I certainly didn’t.
As far as the NFC West Division was, not much you could expect. The
Cardinals easily won the divison led by veteran Quarterback, Kurt Warner and
deadly killer receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Not much of a running
game and a borderline defense. Arizona was one of the first team’s to clinch the
playoffs and would play the hot Atlanta Falcons in the first round. The Cards
were obviously the underdogs and shut down rookie quarterback Matt Ryan and
1,699 yard rusher Michael Turner. Cards moved on to the next round with little
expectations against the #2 seeded Carolina Panthers. Expect the unexpected;
The Cardinals crushed the Panthers 33-13. The Cards would advance to the
NFC Championship game to play the Philadelphia Eagles who beat the Cards
back on Thanksgiving. The Cardinals had the game in hand throughout until the
Eagles made a terrific comeback. But in the end, the Cardinals would move on to
the big stage shocking the world.
The Steelers on the other hand, had the toughest schedule for the regular
season says ESPN. They say defense wins championships and that’s exactly
what there mind set was. Pittsburgh went 12-4 for the regular season and was
the #1 seed for the AFC playoffs. They had the first round bye and would play the
surprising San Diego Chargers first. Wasn’t much difficulty winning 35-24. They
would advance to the AFC Championship game to take on there arch division
rival, the Baltimore Ravens. It was a classic battle between the defenses.
Pittsburgh’s D came through in the clutch and would advance to the Super Bowl
winning 23-14.
What to expect from this game? Who knows? You got one of the best
offense’s this year going up against probably the best defense this year. What
has surprised me and everyone else is the great play by the Cardinals defense
throughout the playoffs. That was the thing that killed them in the regular season.
Also there running game has stepped up also with Tim Hightower and Edgerrin
James. The Steelers have gone to the Super Bowl before. They played the
Seattle Seahawks in 2006 beating them 21-10. You could say that the Steelers
have the experince and possibly less pressure off them this time. Cardinals
Quarterback Kurt Warner has been here before. He has been to two Super
Bowls winning one and losing one. One of them he earned Super Bowl MVP.
What I want to see the most is Larry Fitzgerald’s performance. He has had a
phenomenal playoff stretch. So far this postseason, he has had 419 yards
receiving and 5 touchdowns in only in 3 games. I don’t think anyone else could
match that. Ike Taylor, cornerback for the Steelers will surely have his hands full
with Fitzgerald’s speed, talent, and athleticism. If you ask me who I want in this
game, I’m going to take the Cardinals with a 23-21 score. I think there the team
this year. And lately, no one can match there energy. Super Bowl MVP will go to
Kurt Warner. It blows my mind that if the Cardinals made the Super Bowl last
year, they would be hosting it in there own stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It’s the
year for the underdogs!…..