Super Bowl XLIII Running Thread

Let's not get crazy -- I am picking the Steelers to win, I'm just saying that the one area teams can take advantage of the Steelers if through the air, provided they have a good quarterback (which most teams don't) and can protect him (which most teams can't).

The Cardinals will score some points, I just think they will have a hard time stopping the Steelers now that the run game seems to be straightening itself out.

 

I guess you missed the regular season. Romo was playing estremely well until the Steelers made him look terrible (which he then continued to do the rest of December). Rivers led the league in passer rating and passing touchdowns, but the Steelers held him to by far his worst game of the regular season. Cassel had consecutive 400-yard passing games heading into a game at home against Pittsburgh, and the Steelers shut him down.

It is not a great secondary, but you can make an argument that it is the best group of defensive backs Pittsburgh has had since the '70s. Maybe they were better with Woodson and Lake in '94. The difference this year is they have a solid group in coverage behind the strong run defense and pass rush.

I agree that they are going to have problems with the Cardinals' receivers. Fitzgerald, Boldin and Breaston are the best group in the league and Fitzgerald's ability on jump balls is a concern since Ike Taylor is not particularly good in those situations despite his size and athleticism.

 

Roethlisberger is headed to the Hall of Fame? Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

 

He's dynamite.
I stopped right there.

But if you want to analyze, there may indeed be a place for him in Canton at the end of his line.

 

Agreed. He does make some great plays in the clutch, but his regular-season numbers just aren't that good. He would need a few more seasons like 2007 to be considered.

 

When you appear in, or win, enough Super Bowls you become eligible for a "lifetime acheivement award" pass into the Hall.

 

Certainly wasn't the defense's fault. The Steelers held the Eagles to 260 yards and one touchdown. They blew a five-point lead in the fourth against the Giants after James Harrison's long snap sailed out the back of the end zone. And Roethlisberger threw costly picks that turned into touchdowns at the end of each half against the Colts, whose only lead came with the game-winning score on a 32-yard drive.

Defense can't make all the stops. But the defense has certainly done its part all season. Seeing them against Fitzgerald and that Cardinals offense will be interesting to watch. If the Steelers can pressure the Cards into mistakes, like the Eagles did basically the entire second half, that might do it.

 

Given that the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the easiest one to be enshrined in - especially if you're a QB - I think both Warner and Roethlisberger will get in.

 

Does anybody remember the last time a team won the Super Bowl with a coach who also served as his own GM that season?

 

Pass defense is an 11-man proposition. The Steelers' stats don't lie. It's hard to pass on them. Whether that's because of coverage or because the QB is picking grass out of his ears and nose after most dropbacks is irrelevant.
My point was only that more stress will be placed on the Steeler DBs than they might expect.
I expect that Pittsburgh will make stopping James priority one so that Warner has to pass 40 or more times. Only two QBs, of which he is one, have won a Super Bowl doing that.

 

Except that the strongest argument in favor of Warner is not Young, it's Joe Namath, who might just be the single most overrated athlete in history. Namath was only a good QB for 3 or 4 years, the rest he was a shitty QB guiding some truly shitty teams. He's in the Hall basically because of one magical season, the 68 Super Bowl team--the only Super Bowl he ever played in.

Well, in 99 Warner had a cinderella season that, if it had happened for a NY team, would be remembered as being every bit as magical as Namath's in 68. And Warner has taken two different teams to three different super bowls. And a comparison of their career numbers is laughable, Warner destroys Namath:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WarnKu00.htm

I'm curious what spnited's opinion was on Namath's induction. You can rationally argue that both should be in or both should be out. But I see no rationale basis for claiming that Namath deserves to be in but not Warner.

 

In Namath's case I guess one Super Bowl qualifies.