Super Bowl XLIII Running Thread

Steelers have to get to Warner.

If they don't, it will be the January 1985 AFC Championship game all over again.

 

I don't see the Steelers losing a 45-28 game like the Steelers did in Miami years ago. This defense is much, much better than that. Warner can have success, but he won't put 45 on the scoreboard. I'm thinking the first team to 20 wins.

 

I don't know why, but I will be surprised only if the Steelers win by less than 14.

 

If the Steelers can gain at least three yards on every carry, the Cardinals are in serious trouble.

If the Cardinals cannot run with success, then you are throwing 35-40 passes. I know the Cardinals have some good receivers, but that also brings Harrison and Woodley into the game a lot more. They will also be rushing without any concern for the run.

It also means you are throwing 35-40 passes that Polamalu could pick off as well.

Relying on the downfield passing game is very dangerous. You beat the Steelers with short, quick passes.

 

Agreed. If he can't play effectively, that is a huge blow for Pittsburgh's offense. I really thought his injury was the only reason the Ravens hung around in the AFC Championship game.

 

I believe the Steelers will get to him, but they will get torched if they don't.

If I am Arizona, James doesn't get more than 10 touches.

 

There is also a good chance (25%) that Roethlisberger or Warner will be knocked out of the game for a period of time. Without Warner, the Cardinals are in trouble.

 

As a Steelers fanboy looser, I have a baaaaaad feeling about this game. If Warner isn't feeling pressure in his face, right up the middle, I think he'll be able to move around the pocket and pick the Steelers secondary apart.

I hope the Steelers win. I think the Cardinals will cover.

 

This Pittsburgh secondary is much better than the one Marino shredded 24 years ago. Outside of Woodruff, the Steelers' corners on that team were horrible and the safeties were nothing like Polamalu and Clark.

That said, I'm not sure if it will be enough to hold down Fitzgerald, Boldin and Breaston without decent pressure.

Inky, I'm with you. Maybe it is my natural pessimism at work, but I have that same bad feeling.

 

Last time I missed picking the SB against the spread was XXXVI... Warners -14 against the Pats

I should have equated how effective Belichick's Jets defenses had been against Marino (albeit an aging one) with Warner.

The pressure up the middle is the linchpin.

 

Being as I was not even 1 when this game was played and this being the first time I actually got to watch it in its entirety, a few things I noticed:

1) I would've been pulling my hair out the entire game.
2) I really didn't realize that Jackie Smith's drop came in the third quarter. I thought it was mid-late fourth quarter for whatever reason.
3) The number of turnovers shocked me.
4) I had forgotten most of what I read about the game. The 30-minute highlights that I had always seen on ESPN don't do the game justice.

 

My wife just called. She's home with the baby and was flipping around. Ellen is wearing a Steelers tee shirt on her show today.