Not Much Room On This Bandwagon

The votes are in, and we have a landslide result, a foregone conclusion. Pittsburgh will whip Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII and we can take that to the bank. The pundits and the masses have spoken.

The Cardinals are also the 'worst' team ever to reach the Big Game and they don't deserve to be there.

Only they're not, and they do.

Statistically, the 1990 Denver Broncos were the worst team to reach the Super Bowl, because the 55-10 drubbing they suffered at the hands of San Francisco was easily the most lop-sided in history. And, if Pittsburgh beat Arizona by 45 points, I will not only eat my hat but the rest of my wardrobe, too.

Then there were the '95 San Diego Chargers, who opened as record 18.5 underdogs to San Francisco - and still made the odds-makers look naive as they crashed 49-26 (it could easily have been 49-10 but for two late - and utterly meaningless - Charger TDs).

And who's to say the 'worst' team prior to kick-off weren't the original underdogs, the Jets, who were rubbished by just about all and sundry before turning an 18-point line into a 16-7 Super Bowl III win? Or how about the 2001 Patriots, who were given no chance at all before upsetting the 'Greatest Show on Turf'?

Hindsight shows the latter two would have been really dumb predictions but there were plenty of people beforehand willing to line up in that column.

Hindsight DOES show us that the 2007 Bears were pretty feeble, the '72 Dolphins were also among the 'worst' ever to play on the NFL's biggest stage (with a record low 3 points) and the 2001 Giants just plain stank because of the miserable performance they put up against Baltimore.

But no-one said beforehand that any of those three deserved the label of total losers, unworthy of their place in the spotlight.

Which all goes to show - before you even consider the evidence - that applying this argument to the Cardinals is both foolish, off the mark, irrelevant and totally inaccurate.

To start with, the Steelers are just 7-point favorites, which seems about right for the No 1 defense in the universe. Not 10, 15 or 20; just 7, a touchdown's worth. Defense, as we are told ad nauseam, wins championships. Unless there is a great offense involved - like the 1997 Packers, the 2000 Rams and 2007 Colts. Or, perhaps, the 2009 Cardinals.

And anyone who thinks this Arizona team doesn't pack plenty of offense, after 30, 33 and 32 points against the Falcons, Panthers and Eagles (three pretty decent defenses, by the way), just hasn't been paying attention. Larry Fitzgerald has emerged as THE single biggest TD threat on the planet - if the ball is in his half of the field, he is capable of catching it - and that one fact alone will keep Dick Lebeau and his defensive assistants up late for the next 12 nights.

This is also a team that boasts three (count them, THREE) 1,000-yard receivers, only the fifth team in history to have that kind of offensive firepower. And there is the little matter of the former Super Bowl MVP in the quarterback position, with a 112.1 rating through the playoffs to date. Kurt Warner has also piled up some 5,353 yards to date, with 38 TDs. Rex Grossman this is not.

There is also the fairly salient point that Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt (and EIGHT of his assistants) are all pretty familiar with this Steelers team. And, if there is one team they are perfectly equipped to stop, it is Pittsburgh (ask anyone who tried to run on them in this post-season). Then, when teams look to pass against Arizona, be aware these Cards also have eight interceptions to their credit in just three games, plus four fumbles recovered.

That's an average of FOUR turnovers per game and, if there is one thing this post-season has shown, it is the team with most turnovers wins, pure and simple. And it's not even close.

So, anyone who thinks they can ride this Arizona-have-no-chance bandwagon all the way to Tampa may be in for a little surprise.