It will be the upstart Arizona Cardinals and the heavily-favoured Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII and don’t forget, the 92-CITI Sports Machine will be live at the big game all next week.
In the meantime, it was quite a Championship Sunday for a team headed to the big game for the first time in franchise history and a team going off to try to win its record sixth Super Bowl crown.
In Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals took a big halftime lead (24-6), blew that lead (25-24) and yet came back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles with a tremendous drive late in the fourth quarter, 32-25. The Cards Kurt Warner was 21-for-28 for 279 yards and four touchdowns while wideout Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns as the 9-7 Western Division champs won the NFC title. Some were calling that final drive, “Warner’s Hall of Fame drive.” They might be right.
Talk about red-hot (no colour-coded pun intended). It was only a month ago that the Cardinals were demolished 35-14 in their own building by the Minnesota Vikings and now, this team full of surprises is off to the Super Bowl.
However, as great a game as Kurt Warner had at the helm of the Cardinals yesterday – and yes, Warner becomes the first quarterback ever to return to the Super Bowl after an eight-year absence – it could be that his favourite target, Larry Fitzgerald, is the best football player in the game.
Fitzgerald, who grew up in Minneapolis and went to Pitt, was absolutely spectacular and during the Cards game-winning fourth-quarter drive, the Pro Bowl-bound Fitzgerald caught three important passes for 39 yards.
Fitzgerald has caught 100 yards worth of passes in each of his team’s last five games. If he does it again on Feb. 1, the Cardinals could be Super Bowl champs.
Although, they do have to face a Steelers team that appears to have way too much on defence.
On Sunday, the Steelers (and their No. 1 NFL defence) beat Baltimore (and their No. 2 NFL defence) 23-14 in a game that had Troy Polamalu’s stamp all over it. The Steelers monster defensive back had four tackles and an interception return for the game’s final touchdown.
It’s a little tired perhaps, but if offence fills buildings and defence wins championships, then it’s clear the Pittsburgh Steelers should win Super Bowl XLIII. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did what he needed to do, but it was that sensational defence that won the Steelers another AFC title
While Warner, Fitzgerald and the rest of the Arizona offence put up 32 points to win the NFC championship, the Steelers got seven of their 23 points from the defence en route to Tampa.
The Steelers defence was outstanding as LaMarr Woodley had seven tackles and two sacks, Ryan Clark had eight tackles and, of course, Polamalu was out of this world. It was a defensive masterpiece and late Sunday night, the Steelers were rewarded in one small way: They were made 6 ½-point favourites in the big game.
Of course, that’s something the Cardinals will pin up in their lockers at Raymond James Stadium next week.
See you at Super Bowl XLIII and if you aren’t going, listen for me on 92-CITI-FM in Winnipeg, The TEAM 1260 in Edmonton and The FAN 960 in Calgary.