Sunday, February 1, 2009

On The Record: My Super Bowl Winner


I hate to toot my own horn (I don't really hate to do that), but last year I was probably the only guy who - before the championship round games in each division were played - picked the Giants to topple the Patriots in the super bowl. Proof you say? This is why we have archives, click me. Not only that, but I am on a string of moneyline winners the likes you've never seen dating back to 1998 believe it or not... granted a lot of the earlier picks were pure luck, but there's something to be said for a decade long streak of winners. For whatever reason I just get vibes on upset games, like last years Giants win and even the Patriots over the Rams in '02. Anyway, onto tonight's game, I had planned on making this post about a week ago but I've been back and forth the entire time. My pure, unadulterated hope that the Arizona Cardinals stomp out the Pittsburgh Steelers and spiral that dreadful city into a bout of misery the likes of which they haven't faced since the steel industry came crashing down, seems to be clouding my judgment on this game. I tended to lean towards Pittsburgh based on the fact that I wanted to protect my streak and make the safe play, but that's just not the kind of guy I am. Here's what I see happening, Dick Le'Beau and his Steelers defense have been hearing all week how brilliant Kurt Warner is at picking up the blitz, instead of heeding the advice of analysts nationwide, their hubris will lead them to come full throttle at Warner. If they get to him - and they will get to him - they look like geniuses. But, their arrogance to stay in attack mode will let Warner make one quick pass underneath to Boldin who will look to distribute punishment to the Steelers secondary as much as they will look to distribute punishment on him (I like Boldin in that match up by the way), or one quick down field strike to the potent Larry Fitzgerald and this game could fundamentally change in a heart beat. If you put the Steelers down by 7 or 14 early, they will have a hard time devoting themselves to the run and the Cardinals will be able to drop back into coverage with their highly skilled, if not over-anxious, secondary will have ample opportunities to make a play on one of Roethlisberger's down field balls. I like the Cardinals in this one. Thats my pick, I'm sticking to it. Enjoy the game!

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