Monday, February 2, 2009
Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 0
The Cardinals did their best to pull off an upset with a late charge but the Steelers orchestrated a flawless drive to ensure that the NFL wouldn't be turned on its head by an unlikely Super Bowl winner. I'm not sure the world was ready for the World Champion Arizona Cardinals.
It was the 6th Super Bowl victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the most titles for any team in the Super Bowl era. As an Eagles fan, watching our cross-state rival have all the glory is depressing. We all live and die with every play hoping that the Birds can have just one championship season, we have no idea what it would feel like to climb to the top of the mountain six times. At least Arizona, a team that had been so bad for so long, didn't win their first Super Bowl in their first try. That might have been more depressing for Eagles fans.
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers. While Philadelphia owns New York, Pittsburgh has proven once again that it has ownership over Philly in two major sports. Thank goodness for the Pirates.
Friday, January 30, 2009
At last, my Super Bowl Prediction
Wait, there is a football game this weekend? When you don't have a real rooting interest in the Super Bowl, the time between Championship weekend and the actual Super Bowl is just enough time to forget about football and start thinking about the NBA and the upcoming baseball season. I can't imagine how long the last two weeks have felt for Steelers and Cardinals fans as they have to wait an agonizing 14 days between games. The NFL feels it needs to have a bye week to help build up hype for the Super Bowl but really all the extra week does is make people who aren't fans of the two teams sick of hearing every last detail about what the Steelers backup tackle does to help his team.
Anyway, enough ranting. After a season of predictions, this is my final prediction post of the NFL season. As always, my picks do not take the spread into account, I simply pick the winner.
Last Week: 1-1, .500
Playoff Overall: 6-4, .600
Super Bowl:
Cardinals vs. Steelers I have picked against the Cardinals in every round of the playoffs, why would I change now? Yes, the Cardinals have an amazing passing game that can take advantage of the Steelers biggest weakness, their secondary. Yes, the Steelers offensive line is awful and the Cards D will be able to hit Big Ben early and often. And, yes, the Cardinals have overcome every obstacle that has been placed in front of them and they seem like a team of destiny. So, why am I taking the Steelers? Because they are the better football team. I don't need to come up with a bunch of gimmicky ways for them to win the game. The Steelers defense is better. They have a better running game. They hit harder. They have a (slightly) better coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers are legitamately the best team from their conference, can you say that about the Cardinals? If you re-played the NFC playoffs 10 times, how many times would the Cardinals get to the Super Bowl? Once? If you re-played the AFC playoffs 10 times, the Steelers would arguably make it 5 or more times to the Super Bowl. The Steelers are simply the better team and they will restore order in the NFL by beating the fluky Cardinals. If they don't, God help us all, I don't know what the world will be like if the Arizona Cardinals are the NFL Champs. My pick: Steelers
