Superbowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals

[naiwf 0]

I'm going with the Cardinals to complete Kurt Warner's ride into Canton on the first ballot, mainly because I can't stand the thought of Big Ben getting all of the credit for winning 2 championships that the defense carried him to.

[cd213 0]

I am hoping that Arizona wins, just to piss off my cousin, who is a fake Steelers fan. Every time they win, she texts me about how great they are. Fuck that, I hope they go down in flames. I don't think it will happen, but I'm pulling for the Cards. I also hope they win to make it two titles in sports this year, baseball and football, that people will forgot who won the title in 2 years time.

[Grenouille 0]

I really hope that Arizona wins. I can't see it happening though. I could see Willie Parker having a big day along with Holmes and Ward if he's back. The match-up of Polamalu against Fitzgerald should be interesting.

 

Steelers 32-13

 

And should they win, they should be sure to send a ring to Bernard Pollard.

 

[Chazz 0]

Having a healthy Tom Brady doesn't mean The Pats automatically go to The SB,(see 2002, 2005, and 2006), or win The SB.(2007) Things may/may not have turned out differently if Brady doesn't go down, but nobody knows for sure what would have happened.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Pretty tough for me to go against the Steelers. I just don't see Arizona winning.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Everyone should bake Bernard Pollard a cake on general principle.

 

Let's talk about the coaches, here. Two second-year guys? That's impressive.

[Grenouille 0]

Having a healthy Tom Brady doesn't mean The Pats automatically go to The SB,(see 2002, 2005, and 2006), or win The SB.(2007) Things may/may not have turned out differently if Brady doesn't go down, but nobody knows for sure what would have happened.

 

I'm not saying that it would have been a sure thing that the Pats would have gone to the SB, but for teams like a Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Indy or whomever, it helps quite a bit not to have a Tom Brady led team in the playoffs.

[Chazz 0]

I thought it might be a record for either coach if their respective team ends up winning The SB,(Is in terms of the shortest time as head coach), but a sportscaster here in Pittsburgh pointed out that George Seifert won a SB with The 49ers in his rookie season as head coach. If The Steelers win The SB, I believe Tomlin will be the youngest head coach to have accomplished that feat.

[Grenouille 0]

He'll be the youngest by a couple of years. Gruden is the youngest to win it at 39 years old.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Everyone should bake Bernard Pollard a cake on general principle.

 

Let's talk about the coaches, here. Two second-year guys? That's impressive.

 

I agree. Ken Whisenhunt has done a tremendous job with the team, especially when they became a playoff team. Arguably better than what Tomlin's done, who has essentially just been managing the same team Cowher left him. To be honest, when have the Steelers not been a good team for an extended period of time? Since Chunk Noll took over, the team always looks like they've been in the mix of things, with the exception of the 80's. 24 playoff appearances since 1972. Compare that with the Arizona Cardinals, who've had 5 playoff appearances during the same timespan- 3 of which was when the team was in St. Louis. And Whisenhunt has yet to have one of his teams go below .500 (last year the Cards finished 8-8).

[JJ Johnson 0]

the underdog can shock the world with some regularity in football (99 Rams

 

what

 

Anyway, I'm taking Arizona, because Big Ben is way overdue for a game where he screws up horribly, and because WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE MY BITTERNESS THAT JAMES HARRISON BEAT DEMARCUS WARE FOR DPOTY doin' it for the conference.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Steelertard has major meme potential.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

The 99 Rams lost their starting QB in the first game and brought in unknown Warner, but they were favored against the Titans I believe.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah tough to call the Rams in 1999 an underdog. They were favored in all of their playoff games and were favored by 7 over the Titans.

 

As far as the Cardinals go, I compared them to the 1979 Rams but after taking a look at the records I'm not sure that is a good comparison. The Rams had contended in the NFC for most of the 1970s and made the playoffs with regularity, so the Cardinals now are more of a surprise.

[jimmy no nose 0]

I just realized that every time Warner has played a full season he's gone to the Super Bowl. How is it possible that he didn't have another full year in that run somewhere? His starts by year go 0, 16, 11, 16, 6, 1, 9, 10, 5, 11, 16.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Injuries, Leinart.

 

Warner was considered washed up years ago.

[Kinetic 0]

And rightfully so. Remember his brief tenure as Giants starter? He was terrible. That's what makes his phoenix-like (har har) rise from the ashes so remarkable.

 

But the thing with Warner is that he doesn't handle pressure that well, and he has a tendency to fumble when hit. You would think that would play right into Pittsburgh's hands, although you would have thought that about Philly, too.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

And rightfully so. Remember his brief tenure as Giants starter? He was terrible.

 

Yes. 2004. He was awful.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

what

 

Steelertard has major meme potential.

 

Yeah-huh!

 

Get it? I'm both agreeing, and suggesting a use!

[The Niggardly King 0]

Don't forget the storyline of Whisenhunt supposedly being promised the Steelers coaching job once Cowher took his 3 or 4 year break, but the combination of him having such a shitty interview and Tomlin having a surprisingly great interview led to Tomlin getting the job. There's that sweet revenge plot of Ken Whisenhunt coming back with the...Fucking Arizona Caridnals??!! and possibly beating the Steelers. Nobody could have scripted that any better.

[JJ Johnson 0]

what

 

Steelertard has major meme potential.

 

Yeah-huh!

 

Get it? I'm both agreeing, and suggesting a use!

 

But it works so much better as an expression of bewilderment, and perhaps a little horror. Look at how it stares at statements above it, like what's basically "The NFL is known for underdogs, such as The Greatest Show on Turf." Perfect. It's the antithesis of Dotel's boner.

[Scroby 0]

I......I...I just don't care. Well another year of watching awesome commercials for me!

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

And rightfully so. Remember his brief tenure as Giants starter? He was terrible.

 

Yes. 2004. He was awful.

 

 

Giants started off that year 5-2 with Warner. I am not going to blame him for the team finishing 6-10. Warner had a QB rating of 86.5 that year with the Giants top receivers being Toomer and Hillard and Shockey.

 

I heard on the radio that the Steelers fired the music guy for his choice of music being played after the huge hit on Willis on Sunday.

[Maztinho 0]

I heard on the radio that the Steelers fired the music guy for his choice of music being played after the huge hit on Willis on Sunday.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

You're doing it wrong. Don't ruin Steelytard.

 

JJ did it right the first time.

[Annabelle 0]

i don't think the cardinals stand a chance. the steelers do too many things right. and they've only laid an egg once or twice all year. outside of a total defensive meltdown, i just can't see the cards winning. as neat as it would be to see arizona finally win.

[Guest Vitamin X]

what

 

Steelertard has major meme potential.

 

Yeah-huh!

 

Get it? I'm both agreeing, and suggesting a use!

 

But it works so much better as an expression of bewilderment, and perhaps a little horror. Look at how it stares at statements above it, like what's basically "The NFL is known for underdogs, such as The Greatest Show on Turf." Perfect. It's the antithesis of Dotel's boner.

 

Keep in mind that the 99 Rams had played a pretty crappy schedule up until the playoffs, much like this year's Cardinals, although they did finish strong with a 13-3 record and a big win over Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship (that probably wouldn't be if it wasn't for the b.s. call against Bert Emanuel's catch). The Titans were more of a proven team, it seemed, in that game. Maybe not the best example of it, though.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

They weren't expected to go 13-3 and be the Greatest Show On Turf, since their QB got hurt in week 1 and I believe they were 4-12 the previous year, but they were no longer an underdog by the time the playoffs started.

[Maztinho 0]

You're doing it wrong. Don't ruin Steelytard.

 

JJ did it right the first time.

 

Yeah, I'd just woken up from two hours of sleep doing a closing-early opening turn-around at work. My apologies. It was funny in my head at the time.

[JJ Johnson 0]

They weren't expected to go 13-3 and be the Greatest Show On Turf, since their QB got hurt in week 1 and I believe they were 4-12 the previous year, but they were no longer an underdog by the time the playoffs started.

 

I would think they'd be favored by Week 7, at which point they were 6-0 and had outscored their opponents 217-63. I guess my real confusion was with the comparison to the 07 Giants and the 01 Patriots, who overcame adversity and backed into the playoffs, only to persevere against a much more impressive foe. Do preseason underdogs really count in the salary cap era?