Cardinals? Just can’t happen
As per my contract in sports editordom, I am required to tell
you which team will emerge from the Super Bowl flames and rise
above the competition this weekend; which team will handle
adversity and claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy, ripping it away from
their opponent like it’s a vacant throne.
Cardinals? Just can’t happen
As per my contract in sports editordom, I am required to tell you which team will emerge from the Super Bowl flames and rise above the competition this weekend; which team will handle adversity and claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy, ripping it away from their opponent like it’s a vacant throne.
The fact is, I don’t really know who is going to win this weekend. No one knows.
I have an idea, and I think it’s pretty solid in its simplicity. But really, no one knows.
The Cardinals have no clue and neither do the Steelers – although they’ll lead you to believe that they actually have the answer.
Boomer Esiason sure doesn’t have it. And Jimmy the Greek never had it.
Yet we all pretend like it’s written down on a note somewhere, only to be unearthed and read aloud at some point on Sunday, at which time either the Cardinals or Steelers will say they were right all along.
It’s the Super Bowl, and we’re all fearless forecasters.
And that’s why I am picking the Steelers (Note: If you’re a Cardinals fan, congrats. You’re team has a better chance of winning the Super Bowl now).
It’s not the trendy pick, I know. In fact, you’re probably not terribly interested in my reasoning as to why Pittsburgh – a seven-point favorite to win the Super Bowl – will win the Super Bowl.
It doesn’t necessarily make for an exciting read, and I apologize for that. But I, a sports editor of sorts, am not going to sit here and pick a team I have no confidence in, simply because it makes for a more exciting and enjoyable and interesting column.
So, with that said, I really have one simple rule that I’m employing with my pick so as not to overthink this process like I usually do by looking at stats and historical data, like the odds of the “home” team playing in a “warm weather” state during an inauguration year after they went 11-5 in the regular season but were only predicted to go 10-6 during the preseason.
Ya know, those odds.
So here’s my simple rule: I haven’t picked Arizona in ANY of the playoff games so far, so why start now?
That sounds like a terrible point, right? Why continue to pick against a team even though they continue to win? It’s truly puzzling!
But the reason is simple. This whole rise of the Cardinals thing is too “flavor of the week” for me. I’m sorry, but it is. I could give you the whole spiel with stats as to why the Cardinals aren’t very good, but we don’t have to do that.
This is the Cardinals! It’s just a matter of time before they revert back to their old Cardinal self, right? Right?
I really mean no disrespect to any and all Cardinals fans who may be reading and/or burning this column right now. But I feel like the whole country has been duped.
I feel like somewhere along the line, somewhere between the end of Arizona’s dismal 9-7 season and the start of the playoffs, this entire football-loving nation had a sudden case of amnesia where we completely forgot who the Cardinals truly are.
Granted, they have a great offense that can throw all day, and obviously, they’ve won three straight games to reach the Super Bowl – all very impressive.
But how am I, as a non-Cardinals fan, supposed to wrap my head around the fact that Arizona is playing in the Super Bowl, but also make an argument where they could actually win it? And not only that, but how am I supposed to base that entire argument on the last three games while completely disregarding the last 20 years of Cardinals football, or even disregarding their less-than-stellar 9-7 regular season?
Many people are picking Arizona, and if you think about it, last year’s Super Bowl when the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots 17-14 may have more to do with this than the Cardinals themselves.
The Giants lost to the Pats in the final game of the regular season, then marched through the playoffs and upended New England with an improbable victory in the Super Bowl.
Arizona lost to the Pats in the second to last game of the regular season, and have since marched through the playoffs with three straight wins. A victory over Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl would certainly be improbable.
But if the Giants hadn’t won last year, if a backup wide receiver hadn’t made some sort of catch with his helmet, then the whole “hot team/underdog playing the disrespect card” trend wouldn’t be as popular. Last year’s Giants should not be the reason I pick this year’s Cardinals.
I could have broken down stats on these two teams all day, looking at passing offense against passing defense, running offense versus running defense, away records and everything else.
But if I did that, if I had bogged this whole process down and pored over each minute detail, I just may have convinced myself that the Cardinals could win on Sunday.
And that can’t possibly happen, can it?
