Franky Rodasky
Prairie reporter
“Cardinals barely qualify for playoffs but end up winning it all.”
This is not my prediction for Super Bowl XLIII. It’s actually a nutshell description of baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, who won just over half their regular season games and ended up whipping the heavily favored Detroit Tigers in the World Series. No one would say the Cardinals were the best team in baseball most of that season; they just got hot at the right time.
Maybe that’s what’s happening in the NFL this year. But it doesn’t seem likely, given what we know about each team.
The Pittsburg Steelers are in their seventh Super Bowl, one less than the record holding Dallas Cowboys, having won five of their previous six. The Arizona Cardinals are in the midst of the second longest championship drought in pro sports, behind the eternally disappointing Chicago Cubs.
With a monster defense and 20 players with Super Bowl experience, the Steelers look like the Terry Bradshaw led juggernaut of the late 1970s.
The Cardinals look overmatched and more just a little lucky to have made it this far. Only five Arizona players have Super Bowl experience, but it helps that Kurt Warner, winner of one Super Bowl with the St Louis Rams, is one of them.
DEFENSE
Steelers
Safety Troy Polamalu is like a roving shark on defense, gliding in to make game changing plays like his interception and touchdown against the Ravens. His 73 tackles during the season and 7 more during the playoffs means that Kurt Warner will always be looking over his shoulder.
Middle linebacker James Farrior is a scary compliment to Polamalu. With 133 tackles during the season and another 18 in the playoffs, he may be the heart of the defense.
Cardinals
Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett had a regular season/playoffs tackle split of 49/5. Not the frightening numbers of Farrior, but his speed will help.
Linebacker Karlos Dansby sports a Steelers-like tackle stat card of 119 during the season and 23 during the playoffs. He needs to let Pittsburgh know that physical play is a two-way street.
COACHES
Steelers
Mike Tomlin is the first African-American head coach in Steelers history, and the youngest in Super Bowl history. He provided an almost seamless transition from Pittsburgh’s last championship coach, Bill Cowher. A former defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, Tomlin is described as no-nonsense and well-respected by his players, a couple of whom are the same age as the 36-year-old head coach. Supremely confident, he warned his players that he doesn’t want a Gatorade shower when they win.
Cardinals
Ken Whisenhunt was the Pittsburgh offensive coordinator under Cowher when they won the Super Bowl. Knowing the party atmosphere of the Super Bowl, Whisenhunt has plans to keep his team focused until the big game is over. That’s easier said than done. As an offensive-minded coach with a strong offensive team, Whisenhunt has created a Cardinals team that is hard to contain.
QUARTERBACKS
Steelers
“Big” Ben Roethlisberger could be called “Big Game Ben” because he seems to put it all together when he needs to. Already a Super Bowl winner in 2005, Roethlisberger knows what it takes to win. With 3301 yards this season and another 436 in this year’s playoffs, he knows how to move the ball downfield. His protection has slipped a little, allowing Baltimore to sack him four times last week. This could be a concern, but Roethlisberger (quarterback rating: 80.1) usually avoids turning the ball over. Maybe after almost dying in a motorcycle accident a few years ago, getting up after a strong hit doesn’t seem so bad.
Cardinals
Kurt Warner, 37 years old, is the old guy who will need to guide his mostly inexperienced team the whole way. His monster 4,583 regular season yards and 770 playoff yards, along with a 96.9 quarterback rating prove that he’s still got what it takes. But the rest of his team might not, and Pittsburgh will have no big game butterflies.
OFFENSE
Steelers
Pittsburgh’s overall offense only ranked 22nd in football this year, a good indicator that they win with defense.
Running back Willie Parker rushed for 719 yards in the regular season, and 193 in the playoffs. In the AFC against Baltimore, Parker was disrupted enough to drop a first quarter touchdown pass and ended up with only 47 yards for the day. Against the Cardinals, who seem to make teams commit mistakes, Parker will have to be much better.
Pittsburgh’s receiving leader with 1043 yards during the season and 125 more in the playoffs, Hines Ward, has a sprained knee. Ward played last season with two partial ligament tears in his knee, so a sprain won’t keep him from being effective.
Cardinals
Arizona ranked fourth overall; helped by wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s 96 receptions during the regular season and
nine more during the NFC championship game to knock out the Philadelphia Eagles.
Running back Edgerrin James, close to being cut by the Cards this year, has rebounded to rush for 514 yards during the season, and an additional 203 in these playoffs.
Wide receiver Anquan Boldin, nursing a hamstring injury, has been taking part in full practices lately. He should give the Cards another great option on offense, especially if the Steelers succeed in bottling up Fitzgerald.
WHY THE CARDINALS WILL WIN
Arizona forced 12 turnovers these playoffs, and recovered a league leading 17 opponent fumbles during the regular season. Kurt Warner seems revitalized, and rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has more interceptions than Polamalu since Nov. 16. This could be his coming out party.
WHY THE STEELERS WILL WIN
Defense, defense, defense. Even if Roethlisberger isn’t at his best, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu and James Farrior will shut down Arizona’s offense. Pittsburgh just looks too big, too strong, too good to lose the big game.
PREDICTION
Steelers over Cardinals, 24-12.