Mattie T’s Preview of Super Bowl XLIII

This will be the 4th Super Bowl ever in the city of Tampa, FL. The AFC team won 2 of the 3 previous games, with the lone NFC win coming in Super Bowl XXV after Scott Norwood missed a potential game-winning field goal as time expired, which lifted the New York Giants to a 20-19 win over the Buffalo Bills.

The last 4 Super Bowls played in the State of Florida have all resulted with the AFC team winning. The last NFC team to win a Super Bowl in Florida was the San Francisco 49ers after they defeated the San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin will try to become the second African-American head coach in the last three years & the youngest at 36 to win a Super Bowl on February 1st.

Tony Dungy was the first African-American head coach to accomplish this feat when his Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI.

With a win on February 1st, the Pittsburgh Steelers will become the first NFL franchise with 6 Super Bowl victories.

They are currently tied with the Dallas Cowboys & San Francisco 49ers, who have 5 Super Bowl wins apiece.

Al Michaels & John Madden are set to call their 3rd Super Bowl together on February 1st. Overall, Michaels has called 6 previous Super Bowls while Madden has color-commentated in 10 previous Super Bowls.

This will be NBC’s first Super Bowl in 11 years, as their last broadcast was during Super Bowl XXXII on January 25th, 1998 between the Green Bay Packers & the Denver Broncos.

Now that my Super Bowl tidbits are out the way, let’s break down this year’s big game!

Mattie T’s Super Bowl XLIII breakdown:

One of the storylines i find really interesting is the twosome of Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt & assistant head coach/offensive line coach Russ Grimm.

Both Whisenhunt & Grimm served as staff under Bill Cowher when the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL.

The Steelers ranked 9th offensively, 5th in run offense & 5th in time of possession under Whisenhunt during their Super-Bowl winning season.

While their time of possession ranked 6th in 2008, Pittsburgh is ranked 20th offensively & 17th in run offense.

Both Whisenhunt & Grimm interviewed for the Steelers’ head coaching position after Cowher’s resignation in January of 2007 that eventually went to Mike Tomlin.

For Tomlin, this year’s Super Bowl will be a return to Tampa where he started his NFL career as the Buccaneers’ defensive backs coach from 2001-05.

Obviously, the matchup that everyone is interested in seeing is Pittsburgh’s top-ranked defense against Arizona’s 4th ranked offense.

3rd down completions will be key, as the Cardinals have convereted 21 third downs at a 46.7% clip, which led all postseason teams.

Arizona’s defense is an underrated unit,  as they led all playoff teams with 11 takeaways & will look to force Ben Roethlisberger into having his 2nd consecutive sub-par Super Bowl performance.

In Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl XL win over Seattle, Roethlisberger completed just 9 of 21 passes for 123 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions for a 22.6 rating.

The Steelers actually needed a trick play with a 43-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Antwaan Randle-El to Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward in order to pull away…which was called by Whisenhunt.

Willie Parker set a Super Bowl record with his 75-yard touchdown run in that game, but rushed for just 37 yards on 19 carries in his only previous meeting against Arizona.

Parker rushed for just 791 yards in 11 games this season due to injuries, but caught just 3 receptions after combining for 72 in his previous 3 seasons with Pittsburgh.

A huge reason why the Cardinals are in the big game is due to the play of 37-year old Kurt Warner, who ranked #1 in passer rating (112.3), completion percentage (66.3%), yards-per-attempt (8.4) & passing touchdowns (8) among all playoff quarterbacks.

Defensively, Arizona has held all Michael Turner (42 yards), DeAngelo Williams (63 yards) & Brian Westbrook (45 yards) in check and also are the only playoff team who has two or more interceptions by more than one player.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie & Ralph Brown have 2 interceptions each during the Cardinals’ surprising playoff run.

Analysis:

Just like when booksellers prematurely tried to pre-sell copies of  “New England: The Perfect 19-0 season” BEFORE Super Bowl XLII, it backfired greatly as the New York Giants put an end to any talk of an undefeated season with their 17-14 stunner over the Patriots.

Now i am hearing talk of Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison promoting “Sixburgh” t-shirts A WEEK AND A HALF before the big game, and i’m thinking bigtime bulletin-board material for Arizona.

I see the exact same situation as i did a year ago. A very talented, yet cocky group entering the Super Bowl thinking that it will be an easy win. This Arizona Cardinals team that Pittsburgh will face on February 1st has the best offense that Mike Tomlin’s club will see all season with 3 very dangerous wide receivers which includes Larry Fitzgerald, who broke Jerry Rice’s record for most receiving yards for the playoffs with 405.

Kurt Warner will be the most important player on the field, and i believe he will deliver seeing that he has already been involved in two of the greatest Super Bowl games ever to be played & having experience in both win & defeat.

Warner is different than most quarterbacks with his quick release, which still allows him to get off accurate throws in heavy pressure. As long as his running backs pick up the Steelers’ blitz schemes, he should have favorable single-coverage matchups with his trio of 1,000 yard wide receivers. This could also lead to yards after the catch, which Arizona ranked 2nd in this season.

Here’s some news for Steeler fans that think they have this game in the bag: THREE teams within the past decade have won Super Bowls in their first appearance:

The 1999 St. Louis Rams (beat Tennessee 23-16 & were quarterbacked by Warner, who won Super Bowl MVP.)

The 2000 Baltimore Ravens (beat N.Y. Giants 34-7….in Tampa!)

The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (beat Oakland 48-21).

As proved by recent history, late-season runs can take you all the way to clutching that Vince Lombardi Trophy. If you don’t believe me, go ask the ’07 Giants, ’06 Colts & ’05 Steelers, who all did it despite having to win 3 straight games to reach the Super Bowl.

Arizona did not get here by mistake, they earned their way & have continued to prove doubters wrong week after week.  I’m sure that Pittsburgh will one day win their NFL-record 6th Super Bowl…it just won’t happen on February 1st.

Mattie T’s Prediction for Super Bowl XLIII: Cardinals 23, Steelers 17.

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