The Arizona Cardinals will shockingly defeat the heavily favored Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl on Sunday. While to some this may seem like a monumental upset, this idea is completely steeped in the perception that Arizona is still, at least in some distant form, the inept organization they've historically been, and are somehow merely lucky to have even reached the big game. This season is not an anomaly. Arizona is anything but inept, and on Sunday, the Cardinals will prove that their masterful offense is perfectly equipped to handle the Steelers' vicious, zone-blitzing defense, and score their way to victory.
The Super Bowl is metaphorically comparable to a prize fight; a clash of styles where the "best" team doesn't always win, and the style of execution is more influential in victory than simply pure skill. Like a southpaw landing a haymaker on an unsuspecting champion, when the match-ups are broken down, Arizona's prolific spread offense is tailor-made for Pittsburgh's zone-blitz style of defense. Warner, with his lightning quick reads, reactions, and releases, is deadly efficient against the blitz — shown partly in his league-leading 4.17 sack percentage (as Arizona's offensive line is hardly the '93 Cowboys) — and has the ability to carve up overly aggressive teams with surgeon like precision.
Factor in the elite receivers Warner will be targeting when the Steelers unleash the aforementioned blitz packages, and it starts to become evident that there are some major coverage match-up issues for the Pittsburgh defensive unit.
While the Eagles defense is hardly comparable to that of this latest version of the Steel Curtain, the similarities stylistically give insight into how Arizona will approach and fair against Pittsburgh on Sunday. In the NFC championship game Jim Johnson's Eagles D blitzed Warner over 43% of the time. As a result, the Cards' QB was, basically forced, into a ridiculously efficient game, completing 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He distributed the ball well — hitting nine different receivers — and took advantage of Philly's inability to defend Larry Fitzgerald, enabling the receiver to go off for a ridiculous 152-yard, three-touchdown performance.
On Sunday there will be obvious differences as the Steelers' secondary admittedly matches up far better with the Arizona receiving corp than the Eagles' unit did. Though Fitzgerald is arguably the best receiver currently in football, it is unlikely that he will duplicate his three-touchdown performance against the Steelers. But if Fitzgerald is to be contained, its reasonable to assume that — even given the talented Pittsburgh secondary — double coverage will be a necessity on most plays. Few corners in football can match up to the 6'3, 220-pound force, man to man, and/or in single coverage, and contain him for an entire game.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - AZ LOU DA BREW
YOU got IT RIGHT,,,so sit back and enjooy the game art least for three quarters,,, lou brew 2
AZ wil really kick-@$&& thus game and the 'bookies will take a lickin'along witth the stIllers they wont even know what "HIT EM"
2 - roger rohrs
yes, we are going to do it..... We like it when they say we can not do it..... We are the come back kids.... Kirk has been great the last part of the year when we really needed him...
Roger
3 - BentoHolmes
The name is Kurt and he threw it to Harrison. Good call. Would you like to re-evaluate your position on the subject?
4 - REMF(MCH)
"...and the Steelers' offensive inability to come back from deficits..."
LOL
5 - STM
Because we know nothing about American Football here except that it goes on forever, doesn't have enough big hits per game but is at least played with the familiar oval-shaped ball rather than the font-of-all-evil round one so favoured by the great unwashed of Europe and just about everywhere else outside America and Australia, everyone in Oz was backing the Cardinals ... only because they have an Aussie playing.
Sad day, then.
But it's nice not really caring about the result. Congrats to that yellow team though.
As an aside, the only thing that worries me about American football is that it seems to have gone the way of American society generally.
Ie, it's chock full of overpaid nancy boys who've forgotten their real roots.
What's the go with all the tight-lycra pants, the pads (is it so no one gets a bit of a knock and a bruise or two?) ... and those helmets that look like a cross between batsmen's cricket helmets and 1960s motorbike helmets.
Why not play the game with no padding and no helmets? Come on, what's a broken nose, a few bruises or a couple of full-tilt three-on-one full running body collisions between friends?
Also, if you're bummed off at an opposition player, how can you bide your time waiting to give them a surreptitious smack in the mouth with those face bars? No full contact sport should be bereft of a bit of biff.
Come on America! The more we see of you, the more we're convinced that as a nation, you're getting soft.
Harden the f..k up before it's too late!
6 - Tony
In my defense that wasn't much of a deficit they came back from. It was a really great Super Bowl and if you take out that bizarre 99 yard interception return by a linebacker (someone seriously couldn't catch him?) Arizona probably wins. Either way, great game.
7 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Yea,sure, it wasn't much of a deficit but they did it in 60 seconds...Talk about a comeback.
that bizarre 99 yard interception return by a linebacker (someone seriously couldn't catch him?)
What's so bizarre? The Cardinals got picked and Harrison,though he can run pretty damn good, had a pack of blockers with him. Superbowl History,Baby!!
You sound a bit sour....
As for STM, A Bush hater that watches a sport that doesn't make any fucking sense,LMAO!! See, the problem is, when the USA gets fucking hard(IRAQ), the rest of the world cries like a bunch of babies. Aussie's may know how to sacrifice their pads but that's about it!!
8 - Tony
Yeah, it was a great drive for a score but when I talked about coming back from deficits I meant the Steelers coming back, down multiple scores, over the course of a came.
Also, if you can't understand what is bizarre about a LINEBACKER outrunning the entire offense of another team for a 99 yard touchdown you don't watch much football. Sure it was super bowl history -- because it was bizarre.
I'm sorry if you think I sound "sour." If not for that fact that I made the prediction that the Cards would win, I would have actually been rootinng for the Steelers, so again, your analysis is off. If I'm "sour" about anything its that I unfortunately am still a Lions fan; so I guess I'm "sour" at myself.
9 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Um, I wasn't arguing about the statement you made in your article, I am just still amazed at what a drive that was especially with that killer ending TD by Holmes.
Yea, I watch plenty of football but I still didn't find it "bizarre". Yup, it wasn't "bizarre"...It was proof that the Cardinals offense couldn't run or block very well in this game. Maybe, you didn't really watch much of the Superbowl,did ya? The Cardinals are lucky to have Warner because he was getting a ton of pressure. Any other QB would've crumbled.
Uh-Huh, I think because you wrote an inaccurate(on many points)article(prediction)you are now sour. Not because you are a Cardinal fan but because most "analysts" think they have some sort of ESP based on their knowledge of previous stats. HA!! That's what is awesome about football especially the Superbowl, yo never really know who is gonna win until they play.
10 - STM
Brian: "When the USA gets fucking hard(IRAQ) the rest of the world cries like, um*, babies".
(*My addition)
Geez, Brian, I'm not sure that's a good example to throw at Australians. Do your homework there old boy otherwise you just end up looking like a complete tit. Look up George W.Bush/Tony Blair/John W.Howard on google and the so-called "coalition of the willing".
Since I'm only one generation removed from England, I'd have something to say about that on their behalf too, since the British had a large role to play.
Now, despite all that, possibly for other reasons, I'm just not sure that it's a good example anyway.
I'm a supporter of Saddam Hussein being consigned to the dustbin of history, where he belongs, as I lived in Iraq as a boy and watched the rise (and temporary fall) of the Ba'ath Party in the 1960s - a pack of murderous thugs who operated in the back streets of Baghdad, and whose favourite way of inflicting death was the knuckle-duster.
But I think America's conduct of the "peace" has been somewhat unfortunate, and it started to go pear-shaped around the time of Abu Ghraib, for obvious reasons.
Without taking anything away from those who've made the ultimate sacrifice in what in one way was most certainly a worthy exercise at the beginning if getting rid of Hussein was the only TRUE goal, it now has the smell of Vietnam about it.
I'm just not sure that it's anything to be bragging about, especially if the American p[eople have been lied to again.
On a less serious note - just joking, BTW, about NFL. Thoroughly enjoyed the game ... especially the Cardinals' last heart-thumping runaway touchdown. What a corker. Nice hard running into a gap that opened up like the grand canyon.
Pity they couldn't keep it going. Lycra pants are a worry anyway ... but the winning team wearing YELLOW lycra??
11 - Tony
The fact that a linebacker was faster than the entire Arizona offense in a 99 yard sprint down the field proves the Cardinals could not run or block? That too, is bizarre.
A linebacker at best has, what?, 4.5 to 4.7 speed? We're talking three recievers and a running back who are easily much faster and Kurt Warner is the only one who can make a real attempt to tackle him? Anytime a 200+ pound defensive player outruns an entire offense it is most definately bizarre. This isn't meant in a negative way, its just really weird.
My article wasn't inaccurate, it was just incorrect as predictions can sometimes be. I haven't said a single negative thing about the Steelers so I really have no idea what you're talking about.
You're basically just stating that its normal for a linebacker to run back 99 yard interceptions and I'm saying its not. It's one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history but it is most definately out of the ordinary, hence bizarre.
12 - Tony
Also, lets try to keep bragging about Iraq to the politics boards. Seriously, trying to demonstrate how Americans are dumb by bragging about that disaster only perpetuates the stereotype.
13 - STM
Heart-breaking last couple of minutes.
The fairytale ends.
Who was the guy who ran into the hole and busted away from the attempted tackle for the Cardinals' touchdown ... we liked it down here because we're rugby nuts, and it looked like a runaway rugby centres' try, so it was something familiar we could relate to.
Great running anyway from whoever it was.
We like underdogs in Australia too, so once the Cardinals got behind and started to come back, everyone was gathered around the TVs at work.
Just a pity they couldn't hang on. There was a fair bit of groaning in the last few minutes .. and we don't even really understand the finer nuances of the game.
We know fractured fairytales though when we see 'em.
14 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
You're basically just stating that its normal for a linebacker to run back 99 yard interceptions and I'm saying its not.
Uh..NO. It's f*cking Football!! Harrison showed that anything is possible and this isn't the first Superbowl where that has happened. So that my friend, by definition, "bizarre" does not make...
...Americans are dumb by bragging about that disaster only perpetuates the stereotype.
Perpetuating the stereotype that people like you & STM follow the media too closely and only when it is reporting the negative(like the gas prices)
Vietnam?! Sure thing...*ugh*
The fact that a linebacker was faster than the entire Arizona offense in a 99 yard sprint down the field proves the Cardinals could not run or block? Umm...Yea.
I haven't said a single negative thing about the Steelers so I really have no idea what you're talking about.
Your statements were inaccurate and I thought your comment came across a bit sour because of the way you phrased that comment with the term "bizarre". It sounded like you weren't giving the Steelers the credit they deserve because you think Harrison's interception was some sort of circus act instead of it being a f*cking brilliant read & performance.
15 - Tony
Here, maybe this will help since there is obviously a comprehension gap here.
def. for bizarre: strikingly out of the ordinary: as a: odd, extravagant, or eccentric in style or mode.
Hopefully that clears things up. When I linebacker with 4.7 speed outruns Anquan Boldin with somewhere near 4.4. speed that is bizarre. A corner making that play would have been an outstanding play but expected from a corner's skill set.
A linebacker intercepting a pass as the last seconds of a half tick away and outrunning Arizona's entire offense is strange, I don't care how you phrase it.
You keep rambling on about how inaccurate I was but the reality is that Warner did torch Pittsburgh when they blitzed just like I said. The problem was, Arizona couldn't run the ball effectively enough to keep the Pittsburgh D tight, so instead they dropped back into cover 2 nearly the entire forth quarter.
If you read what I wrote, the entire premise was contingent upon that factor. I did the best I could do give a fresh insight on how Arizona could possibly win and, save a last second drive, I would have been right. I have absolutely no problem with that. If I was that sure of myself I would have had money on the game, which thankfully I didn't (although Arizona did cover!).
16 - Dr Dreadful
Stan:
Never mind pads and helmets - can we break out a couple of handbags for Brian and Tony here?
17 - Tony
What are handbags? Like boxing gloves? That's funny. No, though, I never box over semantics.
18 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Here, maybe this will help since there is obviously a comprehension gap here.
Ya know what man... Don't f*cking insult me because you have a communication gap between your lips & your brain!
Yup, you would've been right about the outcome but you were inaccurate on many points in your article of which I did read. But, hindsight is 20/20 and that's why I could care less for "analysts".
19 - Tony
I'm not trying to be insulting to you in the least. We apparently have a different definition of bizarre and I just wanted to get the official one out there so you could know where I was coming from. It's just football buddy, take it easy.
I think I was fairly accurate on my points.
- Arizona needs to run the ball to be effective. Check
- Warner is great against the blitz and will burn them when they do. Check
- If the Steelers drop into pass packages (i.e. the cover 2 they were in nearly the entire second half) the Cards are in trouble. Check.
- Breaston would have a good game. Well 6 catches for 71 yards isn't what I expected but I tend to think had they looked to him more often they could have better results. So half Check.
What I was really wrong about was Big Ben. He showed a lot driving the team down the field on that last possession. He doesn't possess a lot of the skills you want in a QB but he's a winner no doubt and when it comes down to it that is the most important thing.
20 - Tony
That's the risk you run making predictions. Many times they don't come out as you thought. If I could guarantee I was right all of the time I wouldn't be here writing my thoughts; I'd be in Vegas cashing in.
21 - El Bicho
I find it bizarre that someone could watch plenty of football and not know the Super Bowl is two words.
22 - REMF(MCH)
"If I'm "sour" about anything its that I unfortunately am still a Lions fan; so I guess I'm "sour" at myself."
That one sentence explains the entire 3,000-plus words you've wasted on your prediction and subsequent analysis.
23 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I find it bizarre that someone could watch plenty of football and not know the Super Bowl is two words.
Hey, Google didn't correct me when I "googled" Superbowl,so, I didn't think anything of it.
*Oops*
Point List:
- Warner is great against the blitz and will burn them when they do.
I disagree...I think Warner looked rattled when they put the pressure on him. Had it been any other(non-elite)QB, they would have called it a year.
He doesn't possess a lot of the skills you want in a QB...
Complete control in the pocket, the ability to pass accurately during the scramble, a pump fake(with one hand)that made the Cards defense lose composure, the second quarterback in NFL history, along with Peyton Manning, to register 3 perfect passing games during the regular season and only quarterback to ever register 2 perfect passing games in one regular season and 7th all-time in NFL passer rating (89.4) and yards per attempt (7.86) among QBs with a minimum 1500 career attempts.
I'd pick him over Warner any day...
24 - Tony
"That one sentence explains the entire 3,000-plus words you've wasted on your prediction and subsequent analysis."
So because I'm a self-deprecating Lions fan I'm unable to analyze other teams and match-ups in football? Wow that makes tons of sense. Nice job. You would think I try to make the argument that the Lions were good or something; if I did then your comment would at least have some relevancy.
A hey, I you took the time to read those words so I guess it wasn't a total waste of time. If I could inspire someone with your obvious pristine articulation to comment I've done my job.
25 - Tony
*wow I slaughtered that one. See Superbowl guy, typos happen.
I love how passionate you all get about sports. Thanks for all the comments and for reading! And to all the Steelers fans, congrats; it was a great win.