Super Bowl XLIII: A tale of two games

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Nicholas Mercurio
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The story line for Sunday's game is the Pittsburgh Steelers' #1 ranked defense against the high flying offense of the Arizona Cardinals, ranked fourth overall and boasting the league's second best aerial attack. The result? A tale of two games.

Do you remember Super Bowl XXXVIII, the Carolina Panthers vs. the New England Patriots? You should because it was one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played. That was a tale of two games. The first half: defensive struggle, smash-mouth football; no one scored for the first 26 minutes and Carolina was actually held to negative yards on offense until late in the second quarter.

The final four minutes of the half? It was like adding potassium to water which, if you didn't know, causes an explosion. If you don't believe me, look up alkali metals and water online. Just be prepared to set aside what will become an inordinate amount of time to watch the endless parade of videos depicting various degrees of destruction. Unfortunately, I am speaking from experience.

The second half of the game picked up where those closing minutes left off, and the Patriots brought home their second title after another last second field goal by Adam Vinatieri, the final score, 32-29.

On Sunday, the story will be much the same. The Steelers' top-ranked pass defense will clash with the Cardinals' second-ranked pass offense and the result will be a low scoring first half. What will end up deciding this game is how the Cards defense performs against the Steelers offense. The Cardinals were ranked 19th on defense this year and the Steelers 22nd on offense. However, in the past two games Arizona has forced 11 turnovers and has held opponents to 2-10 on third down. The Cards also contained the rushing attacks of the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers, ranked #2 and #3 respectively.

Meanwhile, the Steelers have yet to find a rhythm on offense. In the AFC Championship game, a rested Willie Parker looked like he might be the cure for a struggling Pittsburgh offense. But just as the Steelers got on track they were derailed again, this time by an injury to Hines Ward, their go-to guy on third down conversions and the tone-setter for the whole unit.

Ward has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Although he is expected to play and will wear a brace during the game to stabilize the knee, his effectiveness could be limited. Watch for cornerbacks in press coverage, forcing Ward to go left like they were D-ing up on me in basketball.

As far as predictions go, I will say this: One team will score more points than the other and be crowned Super Bowl Champion. I don't put much stock in what the so-called experts have to say, most hover around a 50 percent success rate, so the network should flip a coin and save $999,999.75. Also, I giggle quietly to myself whenever they try to predict the final score. With that said, I've always wanted to try it. My prediction: Arizona 37, Pittsburgh 31.

Things to watch for:
· Larry Fitzgerald: Helmet catch? (sit down David Tyree, no one cares) Please. Larry Fitzgerald makes catches like that daily and unlike other receivers (read here: David Tyree), he doesn't require the aid of a rabbit's foot, lucky charm, Tinkerbell and the stars all being in an alignment which foretells either an impossible catch or the Apocalypse; I guess we were lucky last year. Fitzgerald's on the field exploits so often transcend the unbelievable that he has made the most scintillating grabs seem commonplace. He routinely undresses the coverage, makes a circus catch and afterwards, let's just say you have a better chance of wooing Scarlett Johansson with your extensive rare insect collection than defensive backs do of bringing him down in the open field.
· The rest of the Arizona receiving corps: Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston need to make big plays while the 11 guys across the ball focus on Fitzgerald.
· Troy Polamalu: On the opposite side of the ball you have a safety who plays like a man possessed. He crashes through the line like a freight train on a one-way track to the halfback's kitchen. He annihilates any receiver who even thinks about coming across the middle and if the ball is thrown or tipped anywhere the zip code he is currently occupying, you can count on a pick going the other way.
· The running backs: If Willie Parker gets going, the Steelers just might win. If Edgerrin James starts ripping off big runs, game over.

In the end, Super Bowl XLIII will not disappoint. Both teams are chasing history with Arizona going for its first title and Pittsburgh for a league best sixth. Kurt Warner could be the first quarterback to lead two different teams to hoisting the Lombardi trophy. And I, along with one billion people across the world, will be watching.