I must apologize for the scarcity of entries recently. Contrary to popular belief, I do have a job (outside of rambling about football, that is) and things have been a bit hectic at work this past week.
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Before our Feature Prognostication, Second and One presents a sonnet (yes, a wimpy sonnet!) in honor of the Superbowl. Yes. I wrote a sonnet, which a) everyone is probably surprised someone like me could do, and b) probably should disqualify me from talking about football for the next N years as it's...it's the polar opposite of the glorious organized violence that is the sport! It's a sonnet! Should I also note that sometimes I listen to loud Russian opera when I write this blog, while I'm at it?
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Today is for rest, the holiest day
Unplug your computer and turn off your phone
For every fan knows what is coming today
Don't work or worry, just stay at home
Order a pizza and call up your friends
Scoff wings and chips before your TV
Talk about things like touchdowns and tight ends;
And practically hook up beer to an IV
Enjoy the commercials and all cheer in unison
Put aside differences, the great and the small
Throw more stuff than a bad family reunion
And argue together about that last call
For down in Tampa, in tropical weather
Everyone's watching (yes, even the girls!)
And thus, let this game bring us together
To celebrate the greatest sport in the world.
Let's root for our teams and follow the score,
For the Big One is upon us once more!
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I've been thinking most of the week (when not working) about who I think will win this one, and honestly, I think both teams have an equally good shot at this point. Both teams are aggressive, hard-hitting scoring machines. Both Pittsburgh and 'Zona are wound up tighter than the tape on Hine's Ward's bad knee, and both are ready to unleash Mutually Assured Destruction on their rivals.
The Cardinals have an amazing passing game, coming into tonight's contest with the 4th-ranked overall offense in the league. Kurt Warner's got his personal line with God opened, and Larry Fitzgerald has great hands. Their run game has become a greater and greater contribution recently, despite previous inconsistencies. And these are things that we all know. Can all of these good things, however, stack up against the brutal 3-4 spread that is the infamous Steel Curtain?
On the defensive end, although Arizona's largely inconsistent defense has shown up, closing running lanes and (for example) making Brian Westbrook completely miserable in the championship game by holding him to under his average yards-per-carry, they still appear to have some problems in the deep pass coverage. What do you do against Ben Roethlisberger, though? With Bruce Arians at the helm, opponents of the Steelers often find themselves being forced to defend against deep passes, often dialed up in early down situations. The psychology is confusing; how does one defend against this? A sophisticated variant of the cover-2? Do you cut the nonsense and just play cover-4 on every other play? Do you rig up the Sky-Cam to drop on Big Ben's head whenever he's got 3 receivers lined up?
The Steelers have a sophisticated defense- there is no question about it. And while they also have a sophisticated offense, full of totally wacky offensive formations and general smoke and mirrors, will Hine's Ward's injury do anything? I know everyone's concerned more with debating over whether or not Ward blocks too hard and what his nationality is*, but the guy's a huge performer in big games (where it counts) and even though he's going to grin (literally) and bear it, will this affect the Steelers' rhythm negatively?
A friend of mine remarked that the game will come down to offense vs. defense. I'd have to agree with her, but add several caveats. To me, the game seems like "Pass-wacko offense with schizo defense vs. Overconfident defense with an offense missing a star receiver." So how do I predict this? The lines in Vegas seem to favor the Steelers, but I don't trust half of it.
Readers will notice I do a lot of things in this blog:
a) Use a lot of topical simile and metaphor
b) Rip on the Detroit Lions
c) Pontificate about concepts of which I have no clue about;
d) Make fun of people with silly names.
So ordinarily, in situations like this, I'd pick the team with the silliest name to win (Whisenhunt and Pendergast, attorneys at law); but the Steelers counteract handily with "Roethlisberger," so this strategy also fails. Tell you all what. I don't care who wins the game; football is football and I'm in it for the good time. I'll react the same way whether Larry Fitzgerald or Troy Polamalu gets tackled by his hair. But, because my favorite team is in the NFC, I have to support my conference and I will pick the Cardinals, yet again. Best of luck to both the Cardinals and the Steelers: May the best man win! Full analysis later, if I'm not *too* inebriated!
Remember kids: If the only Super Bowl you know contains food, Shaun Rodgers would like a word with you.**
*Hines Ward is half-African-American and half-Korean.
**The enormous defenseman on the Cleveland Browns. Weighs about 370 lbs.
