Sunday, February 1, 2009

Steelers manage "not to lose" the Super Bowl

Not exactly how they drew it up, of that I'm confident.

Sure the Steelers won, Ben and Santonio basically put the game on their backs and delivered. Those two guys and that last drive are masking some horrific performances. The O Line was bad, real bad. Couldn't pick up short yards all season and this game was no different. At the goal line, when Pittsburgh could have stolen Arizona's will, they instead breathed life into their opponent... THREE TIMES.

The play calling on both sides of the ball was bad for most of the game. In my mind the defense was never put in position to show what it could do. They allowed Arizona to dictate the flow and that is an abomination. Warner wasn't pressured nearly enough and the underneath stuff was allowed all night. The Steelers played "bend, don't break" defense today and that is counter to everything we know about defense in Pittsburgh. There were multiple times the Steelers could have ended the game with more aggresive play calling, but they seemed to call plays out of fear, hoping to just "not lose" the game. Disgusting.

In the end the better team did win, but it could have been a historic blowout...

Super Bowl Preview

There are WAY too many people giving the Cardinals a shot in this game. The two primary advantages they had (Whisenhunt and Momentum) have been significantly neutralized by the week off.

The Steelers are the superior team and it's really not close. Let's compare...

Steelers were #1 vs the pass and that is the Cards game. Yes they will get a couple big plays and will probably score a little bit, but they will have a LOT of 3rd and longs which will likely turn into trouble for Warner and many three and outs.

Conversely the Cardinals defensive strength is in stopping the run. The Steelers passing game will look all world in this game which will in turn open up the run. I expect a few "bombs" from Ben to Holmes and Pittsburgh will have their foot on Arizona's throat early. By the 3rd quarter expect a balanced offensive approach from Pittsburgh and in the fourth the running game takes over as time of possession finally takes its toll on the Cardinals D.

I just have this feeling that Warner will not be finishing this and we will watch the start of the Matt Leinart era... albeit in a loss.

Steelers - 31
Cardinals - 13