The Super Bowl Pick

If I’d written this earlier in the week, I would’ve gone with the Arizona Cardinals.

Before, they still had the “nobody believes in us”/disrespect card going for them, but as the week has progressed, I’m seeing an ever-increasing number of people pick the Arizona Cardinals to win this thing, disqualifying them from the “nobody believes in us” category (Now the New York Giants of last year were a REAL “nobody believes in us” team.)

That’s not to say the Cardinals can’t still win. I don’t believe they’ll be able to run the ball against the Steelers, but I certainly think they can create havoc on defense for Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. Not to mention the fact that Cardinals head coach used to be Roethlisberger’s offensive coordinator. I know that was a few years ago, but I’m not going to underestimate the impact that could potentially have on the game after watching Jon Gruden and my Bucs absolutely destroy his former team six years ago. Also, if any one team has a chance of blowing out another, I actually weirdly think the Cardinals are more likely to blow out the Steelers than vice versa.

In the end, however, I’m going with the Steelers because they have the best defense in the league and because their offense is more than good enough to win. Couple that with the fact that they’re playing a glorified home game (I was at the NFL Experience and everyone there was sporting Steelers gear except for two people – no exaggeration) and I like Pittsburgh’s chances. Yes, the Cardinals went on the road and beat up Carolina earlier in the playoffs, but I’m not expecting Roethlisberger to be as bad as Jake Delhomme was in that game.( I actually don’t expect any quarterback to ever be as bad as Delhomme was in that game.)

I believe the Steelers will be able to put pressure on Warner and force him to make mistakes (I’m predicting two fumbles for Warner). I also think that, even if the Cardinals put pressure on Roethlisberger, he’ll scramble around and make something out of nothing.

I think it’s going to be a fantastic game. Great defense and good enough offense vs. Great offense and good enough defense. The winningest franchise in the Super Bowl era vs. um, the Cardinals. Hanging in the balance is the Lombardi Trophy and, more importantly, a winning record for me in picking games in the playoffs (I’m 5-5 so far). Should be a great matchup!

The Super Bowl pick: Steelers 30 Cardinals 20