The Super Bowl always sparks debate among sports fans, and the members of our football-crazy staff are no exception. Here’s what our two resident pigskin experts, managing editor Tad Arapoglou and reporter Scott Janovitz, had to say about the outcome of Super Bowl XLIII.
By Tad Arapoglou
Cute story, Arizona. All those years of being a miserable franchise are a distant memory now. You’ve finally made it to the Super Bowl, and you have to be happy to be there.
Problem is, that’s going to be your mindset. Simply happy to be there.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is no stranger to the Super Bowl. Forget the fact that the franchise has won five Super Bowl titles in its history – many of the players that won the Lombardi Trophy just three years ago are still around. This franchise is about “winning,” not being content with shocking fans and analysts with its appearance in the game.
Ben Roethlisberger may be banged up but he will have two weeks to rest. And if you saw his crisp throws against Baltimore last Sunday, you know he’s healthy enough. While Arizona’s secondary has excelled in the postseason, it has yet to face a 1-2 punch like Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes. Add tight end Heath Miller to the mix and “Big Ben” will be finding his targets just as easily as he has been all season against one of the league’s lowest-rated pass defenses. Oh yeah, and another 1-2 punch will be wearing down the front line in Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore.
As for the defense, good luck to Edgerrin James, who may have found some success in recent weeks but won’t be a factor at all against Pittsburgh’s d-line. That will make Kurt Warner—36-year-old Kurt Warner—have to rely on his bread and butter in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Will they make some big plays? Absolutely. Know who else will? Safety Troy Polamalu, who not only picked off seven passes in the regular season but also caught one and ran it back for a score in the AFC title game.
It was fun seeing Arizona make it as a wild card but this team is nowhere near what the New York Giants were as a wild card last year. Come on now – the Cards were 9-7 and lost by 40 points to New England in Week 16.
Arizona isn’t going to be able to hang in a sloppy slugfest, which is exactly what this game will be. Get ready for Pittsburgh’s second Super Bowl win over an NFC West team in four years.
Prediction: Pittsburgh 30, Arizona 17.
Arapoglou can be reached at tarapoglou@scoreatl.com.
By Scott Janovitz
Destiny can be defined as a predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events. In this case, we are dealing with teams and championships, but if you don’t think destiny has a role in sports—especially when we’re talking the NFL—you haven’t been paying attention lately.
Last year’s New England team was arguably the greatest in NFL history. Randy Moss’s Pro Bowls and Tom Brady’s Super Bowl rings couldn’t overcome Eli Manning and David Tyree, however, at least not when destiny was on their side. And before the New York Giants shocked the world, the undermanned Patriots did the unthinkable by defeating the “greatest-show-on-earth” St. Louis Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. Four years after that the fifth-seeded Steelers won an unprecedented three road-playoff games to outlast the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
So, what’s my point, you ask? Well, all these facts lead me to one conclusion: it is only inevitable that the Arizona Cardinals will emerge victorious from Super Bowl XLIII.
I know the Cardinals had the 22nd-ranked pass defense in the league and gave up 26.6 points per game, good for 28th in the NFL. And I know they were a mediocre 9-7 during the regular season, becoming the first team with such an average mark to even make the Super Bowl. So how can a team with such a questionable resume win this thing?
That’s just it. In sports, when you think there is no way something can happen, bet that it will. The St. Louis Cardinals won 83 games in the 2006 season; no one thought they would make the playoffs, much less win the World Series. Fresno State’s 2008 baseball squad needed to win its own conference title just to make the tournament. No problem. Thanks to destiny, both teams got hot when it mattered most and were eventually crowned champions.
And though you can argue against superstition, you cannot argue with what the Super Bowl has come to honor: that is, the hottest team at playoff time. Now consider this: Arizona has outscored its three playoff opponents by an impressive 95-62 margin. How’s that for hot?
Simply put, the Birds are rolling and as confident as they’ve ever been. Yet, it’s their partnership with destiny that will prove the difference next Sunday.
Prediction: Arizona 27, Pittsburgh 24.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
