So, it seems everybody’s favoring the Steelers to win the Super Bowl, except, of course, the die-hard Cardinals fans, those who simply don’t want the Steelers to win it and all those who don’t really care and wish for another underdog win…
But most of those are just wishing and hoping for a Cardinals win but they don’t believe it (at least not that the chances are really big)…
But here are my predictions on how the Cardinals can win the Superbowl. Not that they will, but these are the things the have to make happen, in my opinion, to win it:
1. Score first!
That’s in my eyes the most mandatory! The Cardinals cannot allow the Steelers to settle in and defend a lead. The Cardinals have to score first and force the Steelers to play catch up. That way their Offense is more predictable and the Cardinals can put their defensive gameplan to work. At the same time the Cardinals don’t have to play catch up and are therefore not so predictable on Offense themselves. If the Steelers Defense once knows that Warner has to pass on almost every down, it will be enormously difficult for the Cardinals to get just one drive together.
2. Force the Steelers to put it into Roethlisbergers hands!
That’s almost following from what I’ve said above. But it’s more! The Cardinals Defense has to stop the run or at least on first and second downs limit it to short gains at max, forcing as many 3rd and long as possible, then they can call anything from rush 3 cover with 8 to rush 6 cover with 5 on defense keeping Roethlisberger guessing. And then chances are good to land quite a few sacks… Over the season Roethisberger tends to hold the ball a bit too long allowing lots of sacks…
3. Keep the Steelers Offense guessing!
Without another good defensive gameplan (that is something the Steelers didn’t prepare for or couldn’t prepare for good enough) it will be tremendously hard to stop the Steelers often enough. With that excellent Steelers Defense on the other side, don’t expect it to be a high-scoring game…
4. Don’t give the Steelers Defense the chance to land their vicious hits!
Those rough tough vicious hits – jumping at head hight shoulder first into the ball carrier cannot really be called tackling. It might apply to the rules, but… Well, that’s a topic for another post… Anyway, Warner, don’t put your receivers into jeopardy by throwing passes right in front of the Steelers Defenders without giving your receiver the chance to avoid such a hit. If Bolden should be fit enough to play and Fitzgerald Warner has two Receivers who can play also physically with the Steelers DBs and they are big and tall enough to be a good threat downfield along the sidelines where they’re relatively safe from head on collisions…
Had anyone from the Cardinals read your blog, they must have performed better.