NFL: A First Look at the Super Bowl

So we’re all set for the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers to square off in Tampa in Super Bowl XLIII. (I still can’t believe the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl.)

Taking a quick look at this game, it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn’t have any trouble winning their sixth Super Bowl. This game may even be a lookout unlike anything we’ve seen in over a decade. However, the Cardinals have proven their critics wrong time and time again over the last month, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they did it again in this game.

First of all, as I’ve said with just about every Pittsburgh game this season, if the Steelers don’t get turnovers then they have a much harder winning ball games. It’s just that simple. Yet, they force a ton of turnovers.

We saw against the Ravens that the Steelers were actually in danger of losing that game before Polamalu got a pick-6 from Flacco. The Ravens simply had to move into field goal position in order to take a 17-16 lead. But, Flacco forced the ball and that was it.

Cardinals quarterback, Kurt Warner, won’t make that same mistake.

But, and this is a huge but, the Cardinals don’t have the same defense as the Ravens either. In fact, it’s a little ridiculous to even mention them both in the same sentence. But, and this is a much smaller but, the Cardinals have played defense in the playoffs. And they can shutdown the Steelers running game. Then they will force Big Ben to throw the ball. Not always a good thing for the Steelers.

The one break the Cardinals got against the Eagles was McNabb missed open receivers in the first half. McNabb makes just one of the handful of throws and the Eagles probably win.

Big Ben won’t make those mistakes. So, the Cardinals better get their secondary in order. That’s job one for their defense.

Now, tomorrow we will take a look at what the Cardinals have to do on offense to have a shot at winning this game.