Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Not So Super Bowl

This isn't exactly Giants-Pats, but it is football. It is the Super Bowl.

I'm still not sure I understand how the Cardinals are there. I guess I'm coming around to admitting they deserve to be there. Hell, they could even win this game (if Hines Ward is less than 75 percent).

Covering the pass is a lot tougher than covering the run, which gives the Cardinals' defense an advantage over the Steelers' D. Arizona is pass-heavy, and have a playmaker lined up wide on each side of Kurt Wanrer.

The Cardinals have options in the backfield behind Warner, but Tim Hightower has been spotty the past few games. Running the ball against the Steelers isn't going to be any easier than it was against the Eagles, so look for Edge to get the majority of the carries again.

Arizona can spread it out, as nine different players caught passes in the NFC Championship game (not including Warner's reception).

Pittsburgh is more of a traditional football squad, with a pair of big name receivers, but they do most of their damage on the ground, with Mr. Willie Parker.

Ben Roethlisberger is a little banged up, but he's a gamer, so I fully expect him to play every down on offense. The Cardinals also don't feature a smash-mouth defense (ranked 14th in team sacks, Pitt ranked No. 2), so Big Ben probably won't be pushed around too much when he drops back.

The weather favors the Cardinals, but I don't think it will be enough in the end.

The Cardinals will score early, probably have 10-13 points by the half, but Pitt's defense will take over in the second half.

27-20 Pittsburgh

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm digging the prediction and score.

Chris Barrows said...

28-21 Steelers

Travis Miller said...

Thanks. I spaced out the quarter scoring like so:

Arizona 10 3 0 7
Pitt 7 10 7 3