Re: steeler vs az cardinals in the super bowel
Hey Neroon!
Demi:
Very good analysis, except I have to disagree with you on RB. Edgerrin James has been decent recently, but he's a shell of what he once was. Moore has more or less matched him in production this year. Hightower has actually not produced much in the running game, though he does have 10 TDs, so he's good close to the goal line. Parker is healthy, now, meaning that Pittsburgh has a very good speed/power combination to go against the Cardinals run defense. Of course, that run defense has stepped it up in the post-season, a huge reason they've made it this far.
James actually leads the postseason in rushing... with Hightower 4th. The two seem to work together well. I'll agree James doesn't have a burst anymore, but he's got great vision, good agility, he's healthy and he's playing in a contract year and pissed because he was benched earlier in the season. Parker is definitely better than James, but he'll never be a power guy, but without Meandenhall the Steelers backup is Mewelde Moore. James has someone who can spell him and play smashmouth football in the 4th quarter in Hightower, Parker doesn't. And JJ Arrington is certainly as good as Moore as a 3rd down back.
As to coaching, very good to remember the Cards' staff and their familiarity with the Pittsburgh personnel and schemes. The only thing here is that Pittsburgh's staff will be well aware of that, and LeBeau's ability to craft quality defensive game plans brings this closer to even I think, possibly still an edge with the Cards.
I disagree. The difference is that the Cards coaches helped install the offense that is used there, with many of the same players. Roethlisberger and Parker both attribute Whisenhunt as teaching them the pro game.
And I'd say the best single coach there is LeBeau, but Grimm saw his blitz packages for 7 years in practice, day in day out. There's only so many ways to run the zone blitz.
The biggest advantage for the Cards is just as you said - at wide receiver. Fitzgerald is I think the best in the game right now. He catches everything thrown his way, and he's strong enough to bull for extra yardage.
I'd agree there, but I think Warner is playing at a higher level than Roethlisberger right now, and I think the Cards O-Line is better than the Steelers O-Line. It's a mess, with 2 starters on IR, and a patchwork unit that gave up 49 sacks this year, second most in the league. Roethlisberger throws well on the run because he has to!
BTW, that great Steelers defense that lead the league in sacks? 51 sacks. The O-Line is as bad as the D-Line and LBs are good. That's huge.
One question though.... how do you rate the other intangibles, or do they matter at all in this game? I'm thinking of experience in the Super Bowl, history, effects of an extra week off, etc.
Other intangibles - the Steelers are expected to win, the Cards are still being disrespected by the media and fans. One CBS sportscaster said that the Cards are the worst team in the history of the playoffs.
The Steelers have looked good at times but played against teams with significant injuries in the playoffs. The two best players for the Chargers didn't play (Merriaman, LT), and their 3rd best guy was hurt (Gates). The Ravens started without their top 2 CBs, and Suggs only had 1 arm.
Warner is the veteran QB. Roethlisberger has been here before, but he was AWFUL, having the worst QB rating in the history of the SB his only previous time out. That's got to weigh in the back of his mind, as well as the fact that Whisenhunt knows him so well.
The last time a coach faced his former team in the playoffs and had been a mentor to their offense, it was Gannon vs the Raiders. The Bucs picked off Gannon 5 times and won by 4 TDs.
So either the Steelers have to go up against coaches that now the players in this system intimately, or they have to do something other than what got them there. Tomlin obviously will want to vary it up, but playing outside your system often means reduced results. I'd say that's worth a TD by itself.
Oh, and while most media experts are picking the Steelers, one big one is picking the cards. The guy who took led them for nearly two decades, took them to two Superbowl, and retired 2 years ago - Bill Cowher.
http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/play/nfl/uBf64fykL8eBSO8DXrJD9oDwEpi6vhkc
So yeah, I think there's a lot of things trending their way, which I think should just barely put them over the top.
I think the Ravens, Titans or Colts probably beat the Cards, but the coaching matchup really favors the Cards vs the Steelers.
Now the one thing against the Cards is that they are a young team, but their coaches have 12 super bowl rings. And Warner is going to have a lot loss mental pressure than Big Ben - he's got nothing to lose, he's not even supposed to be here.
Anyway, that's my take. We'll see in 7 days! Woohoo!
