Posted:
#1
With all due respect for Brandon Lang, who in on Arizona in the SB:
(And Lang,it is said - by whom? - has covered 17 straight Super Bowls. Wow, I want to know who has certified that one? Lang? Only if a reputable Accounting Firm has done so ---- wait a sec, didn''t some reputable acccounting firms certify the newest Wall Street scammer, as well as Enron?)
Checking back to 1988 (21 years) it appears that only one Super Bowl winner has given up as many as 40 points in the regular season, more than once.
And only a few who even made it to this game have given up 40 or more even once.
OK, the one team that I could find that surrendered 40+ more than once was last year's winner, the NY Giants, who on one occasion gave up 45 pts, and on another 41 pts.
But, the 45 was the first game of the year, and the first couple of games of the year you can give a bit of a pass. Baltimore, in their Super Bowl winning year and that bludgeoning defense, gave up 36 pts the second game of the season (after pitching a shutout the first game) and after that never gave up more than 23 points. In fact, they pitched 3 more shutouts that season.
The Zona backers may say that, nonetheless, the Giants last year showed a trend, by surrendering over 40 pts twice.
I don't think so. But, even the Giants were not as horrible re points surrendered than this year's editon of the Cards.
THE CARDINALS IN ONE GAME (VS JETS) GAVE UP 56 POINTS!
GOING BACK TO '88, NO TEAM IN THE SB - WIN OR LOSE - EVER GAVE UP OVER 50 PTS IN THE REGULAR SEASON.
IN TWO OTHER GAMES, ZONA SURRENDERED 48 AND 47 PTS - BOTH THOSE GAMES WERE IN NOVEMBER, WHEN THE CHARACTER AND PATTERN OF A TEAM IS WELL SET.AND ALL KINKS SUPPOSEDLY WORKED OUT.
It's all well and good for Lang to say that it's today's matchup that counts, and by his lights the Cardinals match up very well. But while a team can get confidence after winning their conference, and their play improve, I can't see it improving anywhere near that much to keep them close.
I mean, their defense is poor. Cut, slice and dice that any way you want, and you have a crappgy D, while the Steelers D is one of the toughest to come along in quite a while.
And, the Steelers played a tougher sched than did Zona. Yes, they have the two doggies in their division, but also a very tough Raven team. And, they played every team in the tought NFC East.
I also factor in recent SB experience - esp vs a team that has not been there, even if the QB has, and has won it.
I'm liking the Steelers by a pair of TDs.
They do have a few special teams and offensive weaknesses, but top defenses win these showcase contests. Even Warner's Rams back in the year they won the SB had a solid D - 8 games in which they gave up 10 pts or less. And only one game in which they gave up more than 31 - and that was the last and meaningless game of the regular season (gave up 38).
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