| 2009 Superbowl Predictions Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals |
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| Written by Scott Burgess | |||||||
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Wednesday, 21 January 2009
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 The Cinderella story continues for the Arizona Cardinals as they’ve made the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history, for the Pittsburgh Steelers it’s just another day at the office. The Pittsburgh Steelers do battle against the Arizona Cardinals, Feb 1, 2009, at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium to be named Superbowl XLIII Champions. NFL oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Pittsburgh Steelers as -7 point favorites to win Superbowl XLIII. Get your 2009 Superbowl Predictions Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals in now at Sportsbook.comThe Pittsburgh Steelers have generally performed well, qualifying for the playoffs five times and winning trips to the Super Bowl twice in the past seven seasons. The won the big dance at Superbowl XL, in 2005, beating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10. Their lineup that day had some of the same players on this year’s roster, Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Willie Parker and Troy Polamalu were all there that faithful day. The Steelers defense has been the main reason for their playoff success. In their last two playoff wins their defense has allowed 88 yards rushing, 416 yards passing and they had four sacks on their opponents quarterback. But, against the Chargers they allowed their seventh ranked passing game to throw for 275 passing yards. Going up against the second best passing game of the Cardinals the Steelers might be in for a surprise. As every NFL fan knows the Steelers have the best defense in the league, they have the best pass defense and the second best rush defense. They also allow the least amount of points-per-game. The Steelers offense behind Roethlisberger has not been that great. In their last two playoff wins Roethlisberger made 33 of 59 passes for 426 yards with two touchdown passes and their running game had 70 carries for 271 yards. Roethlisberger currently ranks 7th all-time in NFL passer rating (89.4) and yards per attempt (7.86) among QBs with a minimum 1500 career attempts. During the regular season their offense was ranked 22nd with a 16th ranked passing game and 23rd ranked rushing game. The Arizona Cardinals have never made a Superbowl appearance as the Arizona Cardinals. But, with a strong offense led by Superbowl XXXIV MVP winner QB Kurt Warner and his second ranked passing core they might just have what it takes to challenge the big bad Steelers. Warner is ranked third all-time in career passing rating with a 93.8 (min. 1500 attempts). He is also the second-most statistically accurate quarterback in NFL history with a career completion percentage of 65.7%. To get past the Steelers all they’ll have to do is be strong on defense and be the same on offense. The Cardinals defense has stepped it up big time. In their last three playoff games their defense allowed a total 232 yards rushing, 741 yards passing and they had seven sacks on their opponents quarterback. They allowed the Eagles QB Donovan McNabb to throw for 357 yards during their NFC Championship win, their only bad notch on defense. During the regular season their defense was ranked 18th with a 22nd ranked pass defense and 16th ranked rush defense. The Cardinals offense led by Kurt Warner has been superb. In their last three playoff wins Warner has made 61 of 92 passes for 770 yards with eight touchdown passes with two interceptions and their running game had 100 carries for 303 yards. The big question isn’t, Can the Cardinals get around the Steelers defense? It’s can the Steelers offense keep up with the Cardinals offense? 2009 Superbowl Predictions Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals When: Sun, Feb 1, 2009 6:20 PM ET Line: Sportsbook.com Pick: Cardinals +7 Point-Spreads.com Superbowl Predictions Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals The Bottom Line: I think the Cardinals offense is going to trump the Steelers defense. Go Cardinals! Get your 2009 Superbowl Predictions Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals in now at Sportsbook.com and receive a 10% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit!                        |
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