This Game Will At Least Be Better Than The Hype

All too often, most events fail horribly at matching the hype generated during the time leading up to them. In fact, if something has an extremely high amount of hype, it probably will stink (see: The Village). Thus, given today's seemingly lackluster Pittsburgh v. Arizona matchup, you would expect the NFL--a league highly image-conscious--to have spent considerable more time, effort, and money to try to generate more hoopla than ever. But, this has not been the case; it's been one of the least-promoted Super Bowls I can remember. Cynics will say this is because even the NFL is willing to admit that it will be a boring game. Yet, what if this is all just a ruse by Roger Goodell and the other powers that be? What if they know that this will turn out to be a close, exciting game? The NFL is practicing the best strategy known to man: always under-promise and over-deliver. Like my father says, "If you keep your expectations low, you can only be pleasantly surprised." For everyone expecting about five hours of commercials interrupted by occasional football plays, be prepared to be surprised: this will be a good game. For starters, it's only been two weeks since the teams played an actual game, not 45 days like in college. These teams will be prepared to play; they won't need the entire first half to "warm up." Next, you get to watch Cardinals' wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald--quite simply, the best in the game. If I were starting a team today, I would probably pick him first, even over a quarterback. This guy just goes up and gets the football. High passes, low passes; wide-open, or in coverage; over the middle, or tip-toeing along the sideline--it doesn't matter. Fitzgerald will catch it, and then he'll score with it. We've talked about his regular-season stats before: 96 catches, 1,431 yards, 12 TDs. Now, conventional wisdom is that teams must run the football in the playoffs in order to win. Given this, you'd expect Fitzgerald's numbers to drop off, right? Well, in the three NFC playoff games: 23 catches, 419 yards, 5 TDs. This man is even better when the pressure is on. As good as the Pittsburgh defense is--and it is just gnarly--Fitzgerald is still going to get 135 yards and two touchdowns. Count on it. Thirdly, this is the first time since Super Bowl XVIII in 1984 that both quarterbacks will have already won championships. Both Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner will be looking for their second ring. Put another way: on Monday morning, one of these two men will have as many rings as John Elway, and only one less than Troy Aikman. Tonight, you can witness history, folks. Finally, the Pittsburgh defense is good, very good, awesome. Even for a franchise known for great defensive units, this year's Steelers "D" is one of the best in league history. In the regular season, the team allowed just 237 yards per game (80 rush) and only 14 points per game. Opponents converted just 31.4 percent of third down plays. Much has been made in this space about Baltimore safety Ed Reed, so it's only fair to mention Troy Polamalu and his seven interceptions this season. Polamalu is a tough, hard-hitting playmaker in the secondary who is also very good against the run. Coming off a 101-tackle, 16-sack campaign, James Harrison was recently named the NFL Defensive MVP. On the year, the Steelers made 20 INTs and registered a whopping 51 sacks. No quarterback can succeed under pressure, and Warner has a penchant for fumbling the football. In two playoff games, the Steelers recorded another seven sacks and four interceptions. As much as I enjoy videogame-esque offense where each team puts 35 points on the board, it's always interesting to watch the absolute best at their craft. The Steelers are the absolute best at defense. As I mentioned after the Cowboys' loss in Pittsburgh, the difference between a great defense and an elite one is the ability to take away the football from the other team. Pittsburgh gets prodigious pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and their secondary is prepared to take advantage of the ensuing, and inevitable, mistakes. The above are reasons why this will actually be a fun game to watch. However, the key will be the Cardinals' running game. Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower have been largely uninspiring this season; the team averaged only 3.5 yards per carry in the regular season (but it's down to 3.3 in the playoffs). If neither is able to make early contributions--forcing Arizona to rely on the pass--then the Pittsburgh defense will have more fun blitzing Warner than Augie Garrido does drinking and driving. Once Warner gets rattled, the fumbles, interceptions, or both, will begin--and so will the Pittsburgh celebrations. Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 17 Brian Smith can be reached at BLSmith@mail.utexas.edu