Steelers & Cardinals Super Bowl Bound
Steelers & Cardinals Super Bowl Bound
Troy Polamalu's 40-yard interception return with about four-&-a-half minuted remaining sealed the deal for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 23-14 AFC Championship victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Now the Steelers' defense will meet Kurt Warner and Arizona's offense after the Cardinals blew a big lead and had to rally for a 32-25 win in the NFC title tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Arizona-Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh-Arizona. It still seems wrong somehow. But both teams absolutely deserve to be playing two weeks from now at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. It could be an instant classic, too: Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense, Troy Polamalu and the Steelers defense.
Warner gets to play in yet another Super Bowl after throwing four touchdown passes against the Philadelphia Eagles (-3½) on Sunday in a wild 32-25 victory. Just as they did the week before against Carolina, the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, Warner leading the way with three TD strikes to the immensely talented Larry Fitzgerald. But Philadelphia mounted a comeback, taking the lead in the fourth quarter before Warner’s fourth TD pass – eight yards to Tim Hightower – sealed the deal.
Despite blowing the lead, this was a second strong playoff performance by the Arizona defense. They created three Eagles turnovers (two fumbles, one Donovan McNabb interception) and held Brian Westbrook to 45 yards on 12 carries. Philadelphia’s special teams left a point on the board, as well: David Akers missed a PAT when holder Sav Rocca placed the ball “laces in.” Those are the kind of mistakes that only seem to happen either in Philly or in the movies.
The Steelers are also on a storybook march to the Super Bowl. They beat Baltimore for the third time this season, although it took a late Polamalu pick return for the Steelers (-6) to grab the cash in a chilly 23-14 final. It was almost all defense again for Pittsburgh; Joe Flacco was sacked four times and forced into three interceptions, while Ben Roethlisberger was pick-free as Pittsburgh went a timely 7-for-18 on third-down conversions.
In short, Sunday was a good day for the home side and a bad day for Wild Cards. Pittsburgh was the only home team to win SU or ATS during the Divisional playoffs; Philadelphia and Baltimore had each won twice on the road before coming up dry in the Conference Round. The Eagles and Ravens were the top two teams in the league in efficiency according to Football Outsiders; although both lost on Sunday, their combined 26-12 ATS record this season will not be forgotten by grateful supporters.
While the two statistically best teams didn’t make the Super Bowl, the matchup between the Cardinals and Steelers looks like the best outcome for football fans. These two clubs are the embodiment of offense versus defense. They’re both led by exciting quarterbacks who have already won the Big One, and Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, as you’ll no doubt be reminded 1,000 times this week, was Pittsburgh’s offensive co-ordinator under Bill Cowher when they beat the Seahawks three years ago at Super Bowl XL.
The first lines on Super Bowl XLIII had the Steelers as 7-point favorites with a total of 47. Pittsburgh is one of the league’s most public teams, but bettors have been pounding Arizona all season long, and correctly so throughout these playoffs. The decision to start Warner over Matt Leinart was clearly justified this year – the Cards are in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history and paying handsomely at 12-7 ATS.
The Steelers (11-7 ATS) have defied the betting odds by controlling the game defensively, in Sunday’s case scoring the critical points on a turnover. Roethlisberger’s creativity bails out Pittsburgh’s offense time and again, but over the course of an entire game, Big Ben’s performance this year has been substandard. His QB rating has plunged from 104.1 to 80.1, with lower completion rates and fewer TD throws. On days when RB Willie Parker isn’t producing – like this past Sunday – opponents have had a much simpler time putting a lid on the Steelers. It’s at the other end of the field where things go haywire.
Betting markets reported enough early action on the Cardinals for them to move to +6½ at most books. The total was holding steady at 47 points, which would be the highest total the Steelers have seen all year. The under is 4-1 in the other five Pittsburgh games with a total of 40 or more.
Troy Polamalu's 40-yard interception return with about four-&-a-half minuted remaining sealed the deal for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 23-14 AFC Championship victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Now the Steelers' defense will meet Kurt Warner and Arizona's offense after the Cardinals blew a big lead and had to rally for a 32-25 win in the NFC title tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Arizona-Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh-Arizona. It still seems wrong somehow. But both teams absolutely deserve to be playing two weeks from now at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. It could be an instant classic, too: Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense, Troy Polamalu and the Steelers defense.
Warner gets to play in yet another Super Bowl after throwing four touchdown passes against the Philadelphia Eagles (-3½) on Sunday in a wild 32-25 victory. Just as they did the week before against Carolina, the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, Warner leading the way with three TD strikes to the immensely talented Larry Fitzgerald. But Philadelphia mounted a comeback, taking the lead in the fourth quarter before Warner’s fourth TD pass – eight yards to Tim Hightower – sealed the deal.
Despite blowing the lead, this was a second strong playoff performance by the Arizona defense. They created three Eagles turnovers (two fumbles, one Donovan McNabb interception) and held Brian Westbrook to 45 yards on 12 carries. Philadelphia’s special teams left a point on the board, as well: David Akers missed a PAT when holder Sav Rocca placed the ball “laces in.” Those are the kind of mistakes that only seem to happen either in Philly or in the movies.
The Steelers are also on a storybook march to the Super Bowl. They beat Baltimore for the third time this season, although it took a late Polamalu pick return for the Steelers (-6) to grab the cash in a chilly 23-14 final. It was almost all defense again for Pittsburgh; Joe Flacco was sacked four times and forced into three interceptions, while Ben Roethlisberger was pick-free as Pittsburgh went a timely 7-for-18 on third-down conversions.
In short, Sunday was a good day for the home side and a bad day for Wild Cards. Pittsburgh was the only home team to win SU or ATS during the Divisional playoffs; Philadelphia and Baltimore had each won twice on the road before coming up dry in the Conference Round. The Eagles and Ravens were the top two teams in the league in efficiency according to Football Outsiders; although both lost on Sunday, their combined 26-12 ATS record this season will not be forgotten by grateful supporters.
While the two statistically best teams didn’t make the Super Bowl, the matchup between the Cardinals and Steelers looks like the best outcome for football fans. These two clubs are the embodiment of offense versus defense. They’re both led by exciting quarterbacks who have already won the Big One, and Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, as you’ll no doubt be reminded 1,000 times this week, was Pittsburgh’s offensive co-ordinator under Bill Cowher when they beat the Seahawks three years ago at Super Bowl XL.
The first lines on Super Bowl XLIII had the Steelers as 7-point favorites with a total of 47. Pittsburgh is one of the league’s most public teams, but bettors have been pounding Arizona all season long, and correctly so throughout these playoffs. The decision to start Warner over Matt Leinart was clearly justified this year – the Cards are in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history and paying handsomely at 12-7 ATS.
The Steelers (11-7 ATS) have defied the betting odds by controlling the game defensively, in Sunday’s case scoring the critical points on a turnover. Roethlisberger’s creativity bails out Pittsburgh’s offense time and again, but over the course of an entire game, Big Ben’s performance this year has been substandard. His QB rating has plunged from 104.1 to 80.1, with lower completion rates and fewer TD throws. On days when RB Willie Parker isn’t producing – like this past Sunday – opponents have had a much simpler time putting a lid on the Steelers. It’s at the other end of the field where things go haywire.
Betting markets reported enough early action on the Cardinals for them to move to +6½ at most books. The total was holding steady at 47 points, which would be the highest total the Steelers have seen all year. The under is 4-1 in the other five Pittsburgh games with a total of 40 or more.