Steelers-Cardinals Super Bowl Thread

[FirstnGoal]

Last week I pounced on the Steelers early in the week and then added them as a pick in my winning teaser with the Cardinals +10 to go 2-0 for the week...my lean of the Cardinals +4 also won outright.


:director:


As for the Super Bowl:

Last week I couldn't wait to pounce on the Steelers before the line moved, this week will be
different...the Super Bowl won't be played until Sunday February 1st so I have plenty of time to break this one down...the Cardinals have plenty of motivation to win the game especially since former Steelers assistants and current Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm were passed over for the Steelers head coaching job after Bill Cowher retired...they got their revenge last year when the Cards downed the Steelers but I'm sure it still sticks in both of their minds...I'm not about to pull the trigger on this game anytime soon especially since Steelers WR Hines Ward injured his
knee (he claims it's not serious) in the game yesterday...Ward is a key cog in the Steelers offense...the Cards and points look tempting right now...but so did the Eagles -3 last week BEFORE I broke the game down and realized that the Cardinals had a good chance to win outright.

I'll be posting sometime within the next 10 days.

 

[FirstnGoal]

FINAL Regular Season Record:

28-20-4

Breakdown:

Teasers:
18-13-3

Sides:
10-7-1

Big 3 unit plays:
1-1

Medium 2 unit plays:
9-4

Small 1 unit plays:
11-8-1

Very Small 1/2 unit plays:
6-6-1

Very Very Small 1/4 Unit plays:
1-1

Total = +9.03 units @ $3000 a unit = +$27,090

Leans:
16-6-1



PLAYOFFS:

Overall Record:
3-1

Breakdown:

Teasers:
2-1

Sides:
1-0

Leans:
2-0

Picking the correct team to win the game:
5-3

Backing myself up to catch a middle play:
0-1

Playoff Totals: +$5,020

Playoffs and Regular Season Earnings:
+$32,110

 

[vinnie]

:toast:

 

[FirstnGoal]

:toast:

:00x1

 

[FirstnGoal]

Super Sunday Match Ups
With Super Bowl Media Day officially starting the countdown to Sunday?s Cardinals-Steelers game, I thought it would be time for me to start thinking about it as well. Here are some early week match-ups to ponder as you plan your festivities.

Steelers? Ike Taylor vs. Cardinals? Larry Fitzgerald
Talk about a challenge. No one has stopped Fitzgerald in the playoffs, and his play is destined to become YouTube legend before long. Check out his post-season numbers for the past three games: 6-101-1TD, 8-166-1TD and 9-152-3TD (against the Eagles in the NFC Championship). Video game numbers, my friends. Taylor is a solid corner, a guy who probably doesn?t get enough respect from the media because he?s surrounded by Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and Lamar Woodley, but the guy can play. Pittsburgh is not a big time man-to-man team, but they do use the zone blitz more than anyone in the league ? where Taylor will take Fitzgerald on any vertical releases up the field. Pittsburgh will have guys dropping underneath Fitzgerald to take away any inside breaking routes, but the more help Taylor gets form his pass rush, the better.
Early Edge: Fitzgerald

Steelers? Heath Miller vs. Cardinals? Adrian Wilson
This might turn out to be the biggest match-up of the Super Bowl, in my opinion. Miller has always been money for Ben Roethlisberger ? especially on third downs ? where every Steelers receiver is afforded extra time to get open thanks to Big Ben?s pocket presence. Wilson, who has always been one of the top safeties in the league, has had something of a coming out party in the playoffs, and fans are finally starting to notice that he?s one of the better safeties in the NFL. He can be over-aggressive in coverage, so look for Miler to work the middle of the field and try to beat Wilson in the play-action game.
Early Advantage: Miller

Steelers? Front Seven vs. Cardinals? Edgerrin James/Tim Hightower
I?ve enjoyed watching the play calling of Cards offensive coordinator Todd Haley this postseason. Gone are the days of the four-wide-receiver sets in ?Zona. No, they don?t produce huge numbers on the ground, but it allows them to be a functional football team ? one that can control the clock, give the defense a rest and actually employ a play-action game plan. If the Cards cannot average more than three yards a carry, it will force Kurt Warner to line up in multiple third-and-seven-plus situations, which is exactly what the Steelers want. And it equals guys coming from all over the place to put Warner down. No run means no chance in Tampa for the Cards.
Early Advantage: Steelers? Front Seven

Steelers? Mike Tomlin vs. Cardinals? Ken Whisenhunt
Forget the fact that the media is going to drown you the next few days with the story about bad blood brewing between these two franchises over who was chosen as head coach. I?m talking about actual ?coaching? here on Sunday. Who is going to have the guts to take some chances, and who is going to manage the game plan better in the second half? That?s the question I want to ask. Two young head coaches in their first Super Bowl. I have a hard time believing that both of them will make it through the entire game without making some bad decisions. Is Whisenhunt going to break out some exotic plays to slow down the Steelers defense? What will Tomlin do if the Cards find a way to slow down Willie Parker, or if the Steelers flash back to October when Big Ben was turned into a punching bag? Lots of intrigue when the ball is finally kicked off.
Early Edge: Tomlin

Some things to think about before Sunday ?
1. Cards QB Kurt Warner has thrown 8 TDs in the playoffs, with a QB rating of 112.1. This is the best football he?s played since 1999.

2. Expect the hit Ryan Clark put on Ravens running back Willis McGahee to be in the back of the minds of the Cards? receivers. They rely on a lot of inside breaking routes ? and Clark is almost always in the deep middle of the field.

3. The Steelers? defense has been outstanding this season, but I think it?s a bit premature to start calling it one of the greatest of all time. However, it?s the best the NFL has to offer this year.

4. As opposed to Kurt Warner, Ben Roethlisberger doesn?t need a lot of time to throw. His awareness in the pocket is better than Warner?s, and he doesn?t have to be fully set to make plays with the ball. I would play coverage on third downs vs. the Steelers and hold off on the blitz.

5. The Anquan Boldin-Todd Haley story is dead. We all wrote about it last week. Both parties know that a Super Bowl victory will lead to a bigger salary next season. People need to drop this and find something new to talk about.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/2009/01/super-sunday-match-ups/

 

[FirstnGoal]

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger reportedly underwent an X-ray on his ribs Wednesday ...Roethlisberger suffered a back injury in the Steelers victory over the Ravens in the AFC Championship game.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/

 

[FirstnGoal]

I made my money last week because I thought the Steelers would undoubtedly win and cover?but this week is much tougher?so?even though it?s the Super Bowl and the last real game of the season, I'm going very small on just one play this week.


Very Very Small 1/4 Unit Play:


Arizona and Pittsburgh
Over 5.5 Sacks (+100)

These two teams combined for 6 sacks the last time they played back in week #4 of 2007 when the Cardinals won 21-14?Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett recorded 3 sacks by himself in that game and that was against a much better Steelers O-Line which included LT Marvel Smith (currently OUT) and OG Alan Faneca (gone to the Jets in FA)?this Steelers line gave up 49 sacks this season and Dockett will have an easier path to Big Ben this time around since he will be matched up against OG Darnell Stapleton?Marvel Smith?s replacement is Max Starks a true RT who?s forced to play out of position at LT?Big Ben was sacked 4 times by the Ravens last week
on the flip side?Kurt Warner was sacked only 28 times during the 2008 regular season but was sacked twice last week by the Eagles and faces a Steelers team that recorded 51 sacks on the season and lists getting to Warner as their number one defensive priority for Sunday?All in All - This wager reminds me a lot of the Raiders-Bucs Super Bowl in 2003 when I went over the 3.5 sacks in that game and had it wrapped up by halftime when the Bucs dropped Rich Gannon 4 times in the first half?because of everything that I pointed out, I?ll be shocked if these two teams don?t record at least 6 sacks combined on Sunday.


I'll be posting my game prediction sometime this weekend.


Wager Type: Future/Prop
Wager Status: Pending
Risk / To Win Amount: $750.00 / $750.00 (USD) Accepted 1/30/2009 9:02 AM - EST

Line: 04 - Superbowl - General Total Props
403 Total amount of Sacks in game 2/1/2009 6:20:00 PM - (EST)
Over 5.5 Sacks 100

 

[FirstnGoal]

I'm sticking with my one play of Over 5.5 Sacks for the game.

As for the game itself, my prediction:

After breaking this game down for the last 2 weeks I?m passing on the game itself...even though Steelers WR Hines Ward will attempt to play with a knee brace on, he won?t even be close to 100% and could make an early exit if the knee flares up?even though the Cardinals beat the Steelers 21-14 last year (2007) in week #4 to give Steelers head coach Ken Whisenhunt and asst Russ Grimm some satisfaction by beating their former team (and the team that passed them up for the Steelers head coaching job)?you better believe they still have a sour taste in their mouth?the Steelers are a team that doesn?t allow a lot of points but they also don?t score many as well?I give the Cardinals a really good chance of winning this one outright on Sunday if they can keep Kurt Warner upright for most of the game...but the Steelers defense will likely get to Warner and be the difference in this one.
Pittsburgh 22 Arizona 20

 

[Tdog72]

WOW

WOW

Its the BIG GAME FIRSt??? superbowl SUNDAY!!
You can do better then one play all day I know you can , I been watching your plays all season
GL anyway

ARI +7
ARI +7 Under 46.5

Simple

GL TO ALL

 

[FirstnGoal]

Its the BIG GAME FIRSt??? superbowl SUNDAY!!
You can do better then one play all day I know you can , I been watching your plays all season
GL anyway

ARI +7
ARI +7 Under 46.5

Simple

GL TO ALL

I cashed my tickets and drained my accounts so the temptation wouldn't be there for me...I didn't want to give back all my earnings from 17 weeks of hard work for this game....plus....I really loved the Steelers last week, but I don't have a good feeling about anything this week except the sack total.

Good Luck to you as well!

 

[FirstnGoal]

The Steelers declared S Anthony Smith QB Dennis Dixon, CB Fernando Bryant, OLB Bruce Davis, OT Tony Hills, OT Jason Capizzi, DL Scott Paxson, and DE Orpheus Roye inactive for the Super Bowl.

 

[FirstnGoal]

The Cardinals declared NT Alan Branch, CB Eric Green, FB Tim Castille, LB Victor Hobson, OL Elliot Vallejo, OT Brandon Keith, TE Jerame Tuman, and QB Brian St. Pierre inactive for Super Bowl XLIII.