It still doesn’t sound quite right, but the Arizona Cardinals are taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday in Super Bowl XLIII. The Cardinals came into the playoffs as the number four seed in the NFC by way of an easy division championship. Many fans and writers felt as if they didn’t even deserve to make the playoffs when they qualified. Few people gave them a chance in the Wild Card round against Atlanta, even less gave them a chance in the Divisional round at Carolina, and just about everyone (including me) picked the Eagles to knock them off in the NFC Championship. One thing is for sure heading into Sunday; the Cardinals deserve to be there and will put up a good fight against the Steelers.


Before the season even started, the Cardinals were in the news for their decision to go with Kurt Warner at QB instead of their first round draft pick from USC, Matt Leinart. It was a gutsy call by Coach Ken Wisenhunt, but one he felt he had to make in order to win more games. Looking back, it seems to have been the right decision. The Cardinals started out 2-0 with wins over San Francisco and Miami, and then lost the next two games on the East Coast to Washington and New York.

Arizona returned home to face the 4-0 Buffalo Bills. The Cardinals trashed the Bills 41-17 and essentially exposed them as frauds to the rest of the league, sending Buffalo into a tailspin that would last all season. They then got a big win at home against Dallas when they blocked a punt in overtime to win the game. Heading into the bye at 4-2, fans in Arizona were optimistic.

Coming out of the break, Arizona lost a tough game at Carolina, which moved their East Cost record to 0-3. Some would say it was a trend, but the Cardinals ended up proving that theory wrong when it counted the most. The Cards then won their next three games against division opponents which ran their record to 7-3 and 4-0 in the division. It was at this point that almost everybody could see the division was theirs to lose.



Arizona lost a very close game at home to the eventual NFC East Champion New York Giants, then had to travel East on a short week to face Philadelphia for a Thanksgiving Day match-up. They played terrible in that game, losing 48-20. They returned home the following week and overpowered another NFC West team, the Rams, to clinch the NFC West and ensure the fans of at least one home playoff game.

With the last three games essentially being meaningless, Arizona played like it in two of those games. They fell to Minnesota 35-14 and allowed Tarvaris Jackson to throw for a career high four touchdowns. Arizona then traveled east again and moved their East Coast record to 0-5 as they were completely overpowered by the New England Patriots. The Cardinals came home in the final week to beat Seattle, which allowed them to finish the regular season at 9-7 and a perfect 6-0 in the division.

Kurt Warner had an excellent season stat wise throwing for 4583 yards, 30 touchdowns, and finishing the regular season with a QB Rating of 96.9. Arizona didn’t run the ball nearly as much as they passed it, so Edgerrin James finished the season with only 514 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Rookie Tim Hightower took over the rushing duties mid-season and finished with 399 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald cemented himself as one of the best in the league with 96 receptions, 1431 yards, and 12 touchdowns. Closely following him was teammate Anquan Boldin, who had 89 receptions, 1038 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Boldin’s numbers are even more impressive if you consider the fact that he missed time after being carted off the field against the Jets earlier in the season. As an overall unit, the Cardinals finished fourth in scoring (26.7), fourth in overall yards (365.8), and second in passing yards (292.1).


The defense has held their own and gained momentum during the post-season. They are led by Karlos Dansby, Antrel Rolle, Adrian Wilson, Bertrand Berry, Roderick Hood, and rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The defense combined had 31 sacks, 20 fumbles, 13 interceptions, and 2 touchdowns. Their league ranks aren’t quite as impressive as the offense or nearly as impressive as Pittsburgh’s defense. The Cards finished the season 28th in points (26.6), 19th in yards (331.5), 22nd in passing yard (221.2), and 16th in rushing yards (110.2).

Prediction: Pittsburgh 37, Arizona 17. I tried my hardest to not involve personal bias in my pick and I think the final score reflects that. It's pretty simple, I don't think Arizona is good enough to hang with Pittsburgh. I think the key to Kurt Warner's success is having time in the pocket and I don't think the Steelers defense will give him an ounce of that time. Combine that with a lack of running game, and I don't see this game even being close.