If you think the Pittsburgh Steelers will have an easy time against the Arizona Cardinals in Superbowl 43, think again. First of all, the Cards haven a quarterback in Kurt Warner who has seen virtually every defensive scheme in his long career. It will be hard for Steelers Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau to come with a package that will fool Warner. Plus, with all the offensive weapons Arizona has (Boldin, Fitzgerald, Breaston) if the Steelers don't "get home" with their blitzes, Warner has the ability to make them pay. Plus, let's not forget that Ken Whisenhunt would like nothing more than to beat the team he helped win a Superbowl three years ago. "Whiz" was a finalist for the Steelers head coaching job which eventually went to Mike Tomlin, and he's probably still a little miffed that he didn't get the Steelers job after serving as the team's offensive coordinator. Whisenhunt helped develop Ben Roethlisberger as a quarterback, but it seems a rift between the two developed during Big Ben's injury-riddled 2006 season and the hard feelings haven't subsided. Whisenhunt said after the season (one which saw the Black and Gold go 8-8 and miss the playoffs) that Roethlisberger wasn't physically able to perform at his best after his near-fatal motorcycle accident, emergency appendectomy, and concussion. In 2007, the week before the Steelers played the Cards in the regular season, I asked Roethlisberger about his relationship with Whisenhunt. He didn't have too much to say and seemed uncomfortable talking about him. (BTW: The Cards won that game in Arizona and Roethlisberger threw a critical interception the endzone.) Here's another thing to consider: The Arizona Cardinals are pretty much "Steelers West." Besides Whisenhunt, their Offensive Line Coach is former Steelers assistant Russ Grimm, another finalist for the Steelers job which went to Tomlin. Wideout Steve Breaston is from Pittsburgh, fellow Wideout Larry Fitzgerald was a star at Pitt as was linebacker Gerald Hayes. Outside linebacker Clark Haggans was a starter on the Steelers 2005 Superbowl team (how fired up do you think he is for this game?) The point I'm making is: A lot of people don't expect much from the Cardinals, but they're dead wrong. Expect the Cardinals to play a physical game to try to match the Steelers intensity on Super Sunday. So: Who wins? Well, I'm not ready to give you my fearless prediction yet, keep logging on as the big game gets closer.
Later,
jb
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