Early Observations & Discussion re Super Bowl Line

I never said the Cardinals defense does not deserve credit, they deserve a huge amount of credit for making the plays when they needed to. But with that being said, it is just wrong to compare the performances of Delhomme and Flacco. Delhomme had guys open, he just failed to make the throws and the Cardinals capitalized. Flacco also played very very poor but you bearly ever saw open recievers for him to throw to. Delhomme had them.

 

How can i be the only biased one?? A fool for argue a side in a football game? Inst that whatthis sites for?? If you argue either side you are biased. You keep throwing in regular  season numbers and i come back with some, but you are blinded by this "great defense". The one game these qbs played against Pitt doesnt make or break their qb rating. Constantly sucking does. The sad thing is, only 8 qbs had a worse rating that Worthlessberger, and not by much. You think that the defense is gonna win this game? Its Pitts lack of offense that will lose this game. Its a shame you wanna come in here and rub it in if I lose. WOW, a TOUCHDOWN underdog lost!!! You must be amazing to pick that team. Congrats on being in the 70% that will be on Pitt. And to answer your question, I am already a winner cuz I took Pitt to win the SB +150 last week.

Pitt has agreat defense

You prop bet on them -17.5 should pay very well.....

Should be easy money. I mean , Warner is only 8-2 in the playoffs. Oh yeah, those 2 losses were by a total of 6 points. No chance 3 1000 yard receivers and a veteran Qb and RB with a coach that knows the opponent inside and out has a chance with 2 weeks to prepare.

I changed my mind!!

Pitt 56

Az 3 (if they get lucky)

andarmac99

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quote Posted: 1/19/2009 11:35:19 PM I've said many times in the last few weeks that the key to beating the Steelers is shutting down the passing game. I've posted it before, just look at their 4 losses, great defensive fronts and secondaries were used to shut Ben down and force him into turnovers. That's how they lost those games. In those games he had a 3/10 TD/INT ratio with a QB rating of 56 and was sacked 20 times in those 4 games. In the other games Ben was much more comfortable because it was the right matchup against a team with non great defensive fronts/secondaries. In those games the Steelers went 12-0 Ben had a 14/5 TD/INT ratio and 90 QB rating. THE CARDINALS DON"T HAVE THIS TYPE OF DEFENSE. They will be chewed up again. It doesn't matter that the Steelers aren't a passing offense. The Giants weren't a passing offense when the faced the Cards and Eli torched this secondary, the Vikings weren't a passing offense when they faced the Cards and Tavaris Jackson torched this secondary, if you want two second half examples. Ben will do the same.

Interesting stat someone posted in another thread:

no.1 defenses against no. 1 offenses, are 9-1 in SB

And ARZ doesn't even have a #1 offense.

funny - i read somewhere that the #1 defense is 0-1 against the #4 offense in sb

Talk about padding your Defensive stats....  I could get Defensive player of the year playing against these offenses...

all kidding aside...

what i hope to have happen is that pittsburgh decides to blitz like maniacs from the opening whistle. but my guess is they won't. see, with this kind of offense, the blitz is key to everything, right? wherever it comes from is where the ball goes. and if you have a high-functioning qb in that situation - i.e. one who can read the d in a split second and then release it within the next two? it's very very effective. and then if he's throwing the ball to a monster receiver who is just quite simply bigger, stronger and faster than those who are defending him? and then you multiply that by the fact those defenders are already on their heels reacting. well they call that murder. it's the kind of advantage that likely gave rise to the mercy rule.

anyway, my huge worry is that pitt doesn't blitz because they don't think they have to and it turns out they're right, and then they force the cardinals three and out the first few series as arizona can't find any rhythm and flow in play calling, which is what fuels these kinds of offenses. and so then willie parker breaks off a 54 yard run or something. now what? then 3 and out. and then parker for 62 or something. or a big ben bomb. how will the cardinals react?

note: if at any point the cardinals run on first down while being down - i will start drinking heavily.

to be honest - i'm taking arizona because at the end of the day i love offense. as a long time season ticket holder of the forty niners, i learned a great deal about killing defenses - of course we all should have watching tom brady run that spread offense - but this situation is different. tom brady, curt warner, tony romo - i don't care who the qb is - it's simply qb1 - and the blitz come here, and the ball go there. and so what this is really about - is who that ball is going to - fitzgerald or boldin. because of those two, it doesn't matter where the arizona cardinals are on the field, if pittsburgh gets caught blitzing and they lose one inch of a step, it could be a score. and the next time, that could score. with these two receivers, pretty much everytime could be the time. obviously it's won't happen that way, but if they get rolling, they'll use that duo to move the chains in 24 to 44 yard chunks. and then score with them from inside the twelve. anyway, the point is i'm going with the athletes here - two of the most highly evolved receivers in the bfl, playing in an offense that puts them on display.

remember, although i'm not a homer, this is coming from a guy who watched jerry rice's career from the seats, as well as the emergence of terrell owens. in fact i joked with my father the other day that larry fitzgerald makes jerry rice look like john taylor. he called me blasphemous.

anyway, i still think it's boldin that could kill them - go back and watch his highlights from this season - if he didn't have his face broken, he'd likely be the larry fitzgerald of right now:

https://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80ddd47f

Steelers will be wearing their white jerseys and are 2-0 all time wearing white in the Superbowl.

Don't forget that the Cards also have another 1000 yard receiver with Breaston that Pitt will have to cover...

And Arizona won't have to cover Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Nate Washington and Heath Miller?

BOL

Arizona +7
Final scores prediction :  20-24 Pitt win

Leaning Arizona and Under myself

right - but they're down 7

 

WOW!!! Nobody can cover these guys!!! Heath Miller?? Nate Washington??

You just don't get it do you. Have you listened to a single thing I've said all week about the matchup? Stop looking at the fantasy stats and look at the matchups. You still have not explained to me how when Pittsburgh spreads the field they are going to be stopped.

Those receivers I have listed are going to rape this secondary. Did you not see how open Philly's receivers were last week and they are worse than this crew from Pittsburgh. The Steelers will drive the ball up and down the field and you can book it. They will not be stopped.

And if Pittsburgh threw the ball as much as Arizona this year I'm sure their recievers would put up comparable numbers. Arizona's "big 3" combined for 13.2 yards per catch this season while Pittsburgh's top 3 averaged 14.2 yards a catch.

Here is the key to this game. Scenario:

Pittsburgh gets the opening kickoff. 1st and 10 at their own 35. Willie Parker in the backfield and a single tightend set with Heath Miller. Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington spread wide, Hines Ward in the slot. How in the fuck does Arizona stop this when they have not done so all season?  Do you see that part in bold there? It means something. Their secondary can't cover and their front can't rush, so how can they possibly stop this? Just when they start chewing with the pass, a healthy Willie Parker will smash a big run up the middle. Seriously, I want to know from all Cardinals backers how the Cards defense stops this when they have not done so all season?

Everybody is talking about Arizonas offense against Pittsburgh's defense. But it the Steelers offense against this soft Cardinals defense that is going to win them the game. They will not be contained. They will chew lots of yards and chew lots of time off the clock keeping the Zona offense on the bench.

So the Carolina game didnt count?? They held Steve Smith (who is easily better than any wr in a Pitt unifrom)  to 2 catches, and both were very late in the game.  

Arizona is 1st in the NFL in receptions with 418......Pitt is 21st with 303.....

The closest team to Arizona that Pitt has played was Indy (393).....who beat Pitt 24-20 IN Pittsburgh....

Pitt averaged 21.7 ppg with 16 rush tds and 19 receiving tds.....

Arizona averaged 26.7 with 14 rushing tds and 31 receiving tds....

And you wonder how Arizona is gonna stop Pitt??

 

Well folks there's a lesson in 'Ducking a Question 101"

You can fire out all those stats and I can easily fire back.

First of all in that Indy game a great cover secondary forced Ben to hold onto the ball and make back throws, One the ways I said you beat Pittsburgh, great fronts secondaries forcing Ben into turnovers. Secondly despite Ben throwing 3 picks and Indy committing no turnovers, Pittsburgh still out gained Indy and dominated time of possession. Indy also couldn't even manage 300 yards of offense despite extra possessions. Should I also add that the Colts got a 65 yard TD on a ball that was tipped and should have been picked or knocked down at the very least by Ike Taylor (check out how high he jumped) and it magically landed in the hands of Reggie Wayne for a 65 yard TD that should have been picked or incomplete. What about the fact that Ben was real banged up that game and Willie Parker never even played?

Here's some stats:

PIT's D averaged 13.9 PPG allowed with 7 rush TD's allowed 12 passing TD's allowed

ARZ's D averaged 26.6 PPG allowed with 13 rushing TD's allowed and 36 passing TD's allowed!

 

Now other teams need MAGIC to beat Pittsburgh!!!??? Holy shit, Arizona is in trouble!!!!

Maybe Merlin and Harry Potter can help Arizona!!!! Hope they havent signed on with anybody else

 

Yeah guys this Pittsburgh defense is just ok, they are only great because they have padded their stats against weaker teams

Then how do you explain the fact that last season with the exact same system and players they finished #1 in the NFL in total defense? Oh and it just so happened they played 9 of their 16 regular season games against Top 12 offenses.

And the 6 years before that under the same system the Steelers D has finished 9th, 4th, 1st, 9th, 7th and 1st in total defense. Guess they were padding their stats those years too.


This is the same poster who in another thread when talking about the Pittsburgh defense said, and I quote, "Basically, I could get a group of 11 together and easily be a top 10 defense in the NFL with their schedule"

God I love this site.

Here's something else: I keep seeing all this stuff about how the Steelers offense isn't good enough. Let's look back to their 2005 Superbowl run. That year their defense was ranked 4th and their offense down at #16. In the playoffs that year their lowly offense scored at least 21 points in every game and averaged almost 27 PPG in their 4 game run. But more importantly their 4th ranked defense that playoff held every opponent to 18 points or less and their D averaged 15.5 points allowed per game. And oh yeah, the 4 offenses they faced in those games only happened to be ranked 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th in total offense.

Defense doesn't win championships.

A+ response.

So........about this:

Here is the key to this game. Scenario:

Pittsburgh gets the opening kickoff. 1st and 10 at their own 35. Willie Parker in the backfield and a single tightend set with Heath Miller. Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington spread wide, Hines Ward in the slot. How in the fuck does Arizona stop this when they have not done so all season?  Do you see that part in bold there? It means something. Their secondary can't cover and their front can't rush, so how can they possibly stop this? Just when they start chewing with the pass, a healthy Willie Parker will smash a big run up the middle. Seriously, I want to know from all Cardinals backers how the Cards defense stops this when they have not done so all season?

I can hear crickets in here all the sudden.............

I already answered your BOLD FACED QUESTION several posts ago.....

those arent cricket, their nervous Pitt fans......

glad my previous response got an A+