Psycho Penguin 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2009 I know hindsight is 50/50 and all, but this is like the Browns losing Anderson and Quinn next year and Dorsey coming in and leading them with a record setting offense and 13-3 record. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JJ Johnson 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2009 Yeah, I get the whole "Arena Football player and Hy-Vee shelf stocker leads the greatest offense ever assembled" aspect of it, but if we analyze VX's quote here: Unlike baseball, where we've had Cinderella stories smothered out in the championship games (see: Detroit 2006 and 2008 Rays) the underdog can shock the world with some regularity in football (99 Rams, 2001 Patriots, 2007 Giants etc.). It kind of looks like he's speaking specifically of championship underdogs, which the 99 Rams most certainly were not, even if the Titans were an underrated team because they possibly-forward-lateral'd and playoff-game-against-Peyton-Manning'd their way to the big dance. He elaborated earlier in the thread and said he meant the whole "last season sucked and Trent Green's knee is ruined" aspect of it, but it seems like apples and oranges with his other two examples. The Pats and the Giants struggled and shocked the world and so forth, while it was pretty clear pretty early that the Rams were the team to beat in the NFC, if not the league, depending on how much stock you put in that 14-2 Jaguars team. Less of an "underdog," per se, and more of a "Go figure, the Rams are good this year" as we saw with the Dolphins and the Falcons this year. I guess it depends on your definition of underdog. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psycho Penguin 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 I know, I even called him on it originally. But, they were an underdog in a way. Until they started winning every week. They definitely can't compare to the other 2 teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted January 21, 2009 The combined record of all of St. Louis' opponents that year was 82-142. The combined record of the teams the Rams lost to in the regular season was 26-22. There was good enough reason to believe that the Rams racked up a bunch of wins against inferior opponents that when they went into the playoffs, they weren't really proven, which of course they defied and ultimately won the championship. Despite the point spread, I tend to think the Titans were still the better team and had a more difficult road to get to the Super Bowl, aside from Dungy's Bucs who probably should've beaten the Rams. But yeah that's obviously different. Anyways, underdog brainfart aside, my point was this seems to happen a lot more in football than in baseball, which is still a valid point, at least recently. Probably in basketball too. Makes football more fun to watch in my opinion, even when it bit me in the ass for Super Bowl XXXII. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. Specific Predictions 1. Final Score 2. MVP 3. Statistical leaders Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. Specific Predictions 1. Final Score 2. MVP 3. Statistical leaders 1. Haven't decided on a winner yet 2. The winning QB 3. Warner will have more yards passing than BenRo More importantly.... 4. Best avatar - AoO 5. Creepiest avatar - AoO 6. Funniest avatar - AoO Congrats, man. What are you going to do next? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jwpeer 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. Specific Predictions 1. Final Score 2. MVP 3. Statistical leaders Did someone see Sleuth recently?? 1. 24-21 Pittsburgh (Heavily leaning to 27-21, but either way they won't cover. Fitzgerald with all three Arizona TDs) 2. Larry Fitzgerald in the loss (Making up for when he lost the heisman to Jason f'ing White. Biggest proof that award is truly a piece of crap. I'm actually probably a bigger fan of Fitz than the Steelers ) 3. Warner fumbles three times from the pressure. Fitzgerald with 3 TDS, 12 receptions, 145 yards. Harrison with two forced fumbles. Boldin with 10 minutes straight pouting about not being as good as Fitz/Breaston in their max protect schemes. Heath Miller makes multiple big catches for first downs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naiwf 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Final Score - Arizona 27-24 MVP - Kurt Warner Passing Leader - Kurt Warner Rushing Leader - Willie Parker Receiving Leader - Larry Fitzgerald Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Final Score- 31-27 Arizona Passing Leader- Kurt Warner Rushing Leader- Willie Parker MVP- Larry Fitzgerald Receiving Leader- Larry Fitzgerald Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Final score: Cardinals 24, Steelers 17 MVP: Larry Fitzgerald Passing leader: Kurt Warner Receiving leader: Fitzgerald Rushing leader: Willie Parker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chazz 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 -Final Score; Pittsburgh 23 Arizona 20 -MVP; Willie Parker -Passing Leader; Kurt Warner -Receiving Leader; Larry Fitzgerald -Rushing Leader; Willie Parker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psycho Penguin 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 -Final Score; Arizona 34 Pittsburgh 20 -MVP; Larry Fitzgerald -Passing Leader; Kurt Warner -Receiving Leader; Larry Fitzgerald -Rushing Leader; Willie Parker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kinetic 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Pittsburgh: 31 Arizona: 20 MVP: Roethlisberger, although many will argue that any number of guys on the defense deserved it more. Warner will have over 300 yards through the air, but will also have several costly turnovers. Let's say two picks (one a pick-six) and one fumble lost. Fitzgerald will have another monster game, and will account for Arizona's two TDs. Willie Parker will be a non-factor, but Roethlisberger will pick Arizona's secondary apart. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KobashiFS 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2009 Score Pittsburgh: 21 Arizona: 17 MVP Roethlisberger -I don't think he'll have a big numbers game though. Passing leader: Warner -I see the Steelers taking the lead early, and Warner being forced to throw and getting a fair number of yards against a tough Pittsburgh defense. Receiving leader: Fitzgerald Rushing leader: Parker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art Sandusky 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2009 Pittsburgh: 30 Arizona: 13 MVP: Heinz Ward will break Adrian Wilson's jaw and have a 125+ yard game with a touchdown or two. Big Ben does too little to stand out otherwise he'd win it. Passing Leader: Kurt Warner WILL have a 300yd+ game. Just ignore the "3 INT" part of the stat line, one of which will be a pick-six. Receiving Leader: Larry Fitzgerald will try to carry the team again, but fail despite more than 10 catches and 150 yards. Rushing Leader: Willie Parker, but this will be a game won in the air. He'll get it into the endzone a couple of times but fail to crack 100 yards. I really want to see the underdog win, but I get a 1998 Falcons vibe from this team despite losing five more times than that one-and-done. This is a team that's carried by a receiver/quarterback combo rather than a dirty-birdin' running back, however they're still doomed to a loss. I hope I'm wrong. The way I see it there are three possible outcomes, a Pittsburgh blowout or close win and an Arizona close win. There is NO WAY the Cardinals hang more than twenty points on Pittsburgh unless Anquan Boldin hits Troy Polamalu with a steel chair at halftime. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2009 Steelers 24, Cardinals 14 Passing: Warner Rushing: Parker Receiving: Fitzgerald MVP: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted January 22, 2009 MVP: Wins the thread. Oh man. 1. 24-21 Arizona 2. MVP: Adrian Wilson 3. Passing: Roethlisberger Rushing: Parker Receiving: Heath Miller I think Arizona is going to fall ass-backwards into a win in a game in which they're completely dominated statistically. Tipped balls, ill-advised throws, and receiver gaffes turn into interception after interception for the Cards D. By pure serendipity, Adrian Wilson will be in the right place at the right time twice or more. He'll score a monster fourth quarter sack and make a big stop or two on key 3rd downs. Neither team will move the ball well, and the game really won't be very good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2009 MVP: Well, sure, anyone can go with the obvious choice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hyperchord24 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2009 I know they keep replaying the Larry Fitzgerald interview with Cris Carter and it's annoying and all, but it is refreshing to hear a WR with his feet firmly on the ground for once. Especially with Boldin heading toward TO'ville. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanhalen 0 Report post Posted January 27, 2009 good god, Steelys photo is fucking amazing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fartsauce 0 Report post Posted January 27, 2009 Steelers 21 Cardinals 10 Palamalu (sp?) ends up being the mvp passing goes to ben rushing goes to parker receiving goes to fitzgerald Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted January 28, 2009 - Final: Cardinals 28 Steelers 20 - MVP will be Larry Fitzgerald with 2 TDs (also the receiving leader) - Parker will be the leading rusher, but it will be a "quiet" 80-100 yards with no scores as Arizona's rush defense continues to be stout. - Both Warner and Ben throw for 250+ and two TDs, though both will throw 1 or 2 INTs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted January 28, 2009 I found this interesting and didn't realize just how many "name" starters on both sides actually went undrafted out of college. I also noticed that Pittsburgh has a serious knack for drafting their defense in the 3rd-5th rounds. - RB Willie Parker (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of North Carolina - RB Gary Russell (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of Minnesota - WR Nate Washington (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of Tiffin - TE Jerheme Urban (Arizona Cardinals) out of Trinity - K Jeff Reed (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of North Carolina - DT/DE Travis Kirschke (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of UCLA - LB James Harrison (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of Kent State - DB Ryan Clark (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of LSU - DB Roderick Hood (Arizona Cardinals) out of Auburn - DB Aaron Francisco (Arizona Cardinals) out of BYU Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0 Report post Posted January 28, 2009 I'm cheering for the Cards but realistically: SCORE: Steelers 27, CARDINALS 24 MVP: Troy Polamalu STATS: QB - Warner (315yds, 3TD, 3INT, 1FBL)/Big Ben (231yds, 1TD, 2INT) RB - James (53yds)/Parker (75yds, 1TD, 1FBL) WR - Fitzgerald (12 catches, 164yds, 2TD)/Holmes (3 catches, 112yds, 1TD) Polamalu gets pick-6 with Arizona down 20-17, late in the 4th, making it 27-17. Cards get a last second TD but can't recover the onside. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Niggardly King 0 Report post Posted January 28, 2009 Is it at all possible that we could see a blowout the likes of the Bucs/Raiders Super Bowl? I mean, the offense hasn't changed that much from back when Whisenhunt was the Steelers OC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MFer 0 Report post Posted January 28, 2009 I'll go with Arizona over Pittsburgh, 24-20. MVP: Warner Leading passer: Warner Leading rusher: Parker Leading receiver: Boldin (which would be somewhat ironic) I think the Cardinals D will play a big role in this one. They have 8 INT's this postseason (yes, 5 came against Carolina, but they still managed 3 in the other two games), and I think Big Ben's due to make a mistake or two. Plus, it's not like Pittsburgh's offense is the greatest in the world, especially with Ward banged up now. Arizona just needs to keep Warner relatively clean and get Pittsburgh off the field on 3rd down. I would think that the Steelers would try everything in their power to cover Fitzgerald, which could open the door for Boldin and Breaston. I am a little worried about everyone jumping on the Cardinals' bandwagon though. The Steelers might find a way to twist that as a sign of disrespect against them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted January 31, 2009 And now, my favorite part of the Super Bowl: the prop bets! I found a listing of 30 of the more ridiculous ones that you can actually bet on at Bodog. I'd put a sawbuck on Over 5 Big Ben References by John and Al and another on Jennifer Hudson dragging the anthem past 2:01. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vampiro69 0 Report post Posted January 31, 2009 Obama has picked the Steelers to win. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted January 31, 2009 My legit pick would be the Steelers, probably pretty big. But I'll be rooting for the Cards. Is it me or does this game have far less hype than Superbowls usually do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted January 31, 2009 Is it me or does this game have far less hype than Superbowls usually do? It's not just you. Not a whole lot of people understand the magnitude of the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl, they just see a team they don't know or care much about and them playing the Steelers, so they automatically assume they'll win. And of course Obama would pick the Steelers. Which one of those two states voted for him? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
