Organized Chaos

Can Arizona do it again? Or Will Pittsburgh win a record sixth Super Bowl?

Super Bowl XLIII may not feature an unbeaten team, but the intrigue and the build up, with a loveable underdog, is just as interesting.

Granted, the point spread is around seven points in favor of Pittsburgh, but there are still many who are doubting Arizona.  Both teams seek historic endings.

This would be Arizona’s first world championship. The importance of this can’t be underscored. This is the first time this franchise has done something meaningful in more than 40 years.

Then you have the Steelers, who are seeking a record sixth title. They are currently tied with San Francisco and Dallas with five apiece. A sixth title is akin to Yankee dominance in baseball.

You have the journeyman Kurt Warner, who has turned around not one but TWO franchises. He is 1-1 in the Super Bowl.

His counterpart, Ben Roethlisberger, has one title under his belt. But, it was obvious, and by his own admission that he wasn’t the reason the Steelers beat the Seahawks.

The key was Willie Parker, who had a coming out party. He’s healthy again, which could be bad news for the Cardinals.

Arizona has its own star in Larry Fitzgerald, who has supplanted himself in these playoffs as one of the top wide receivers in the game. He will need to come up big for Arizona to stay close.

But me saying that is a lot like what people have said about Arizona all along. They said the Cardinals couldn’t beat Atlanta. Then when they did, no one gave them a chance against Carolina.

After that blowout win, there was no way Philly would lose, especially after beating Arizona on Thanksgiving. But, of course, we know differently.

I’d love Arizona to win. It can win.

But Pittsburgh’s defense will be the key. That, and Parker will be able to have a good game.

It all boils down to a 24-14 Steelers win.

By the way, I would have Musa pick the game but he was way off his game when we stopped during college football. He went as far as to pick a Citadel upset over Florida. I knew then he was grasping at straws. Perhaps time away will help himthink clearly, so I might put his prediction up.

Update, Jan. 31, 8:30 p.m.: Well, Musa wouldn’t come to a decision. I asked several times and he wavered. I’m guessing he picked a tie, but we all know that’s not possible.

What say you?

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.