To start with two observations...I know we often fall victim to the Error of Recency, but I believe Larry Fitzgerald is the best wide receiver ever. He is faster, stronger, and taller than Jerry Rice, and has just as good hands as Rice had. And I never saw Rice fight for as many "50/50" balls the way Fitzgerald can. Now, I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, as I realize I never saw Rice in his early years when he was at his most athletic, and physically dominant. But either way, before touting Kurt Warner for MVP due to his gawdy fantasy stats, just realize that any starting NFL QB (except probably Brett Favre) could be made to look pretty darn good if they were throwing to Fitzgerald. Heck, I think I could throw to him.
Also, I feel the Eagles' defense turned in the worst NFC championship performance ever. Kurt Warner was so, so comfortable in the pocket. Although both the Cardinals and Eagles won only 9 games in the 2008 regular season, I considered the Eagles the better team, and therefore have no choice but to call this another Eagles' choke. True, the Eagles got burned by some bad calls, but it shouldn't have come to that. I have a couple of friends who are Eagles fans and I genuinely feel bad for them. But hey, at least they have the Phillies, that should take the sting off a bit. Anyway, I think it's time for the McNabb/Reid era to end; how many times do Eagles fans have to watch that movie end the same way?
But back to the Cardinals, your 2008-09 NFC champions. This goes to show A) how random the playoffs have been this year, and B) how badly the NFL needs to fix their playoff seeding. A 9-7 team (3-7 other than their games with the Seahawks, 49ers, and Rams), getting two home games in the playoffs, should never happen. In the AFC, an 8-8 team hosting a 12-4 team, should also never happen. I really hope the league takes a look at this soon.
On the other hand, we have the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers. A perennial juggernaut, there is no doubt they belong in this Super Bowl. It's their first Super Bowl appearance since 2005-06, when they faced another average NFC west team that simply won 3 games in a row at the right time. Pittsburgh of course won that game, so they hope history repeats itself. And the similarities with past Steeler triumphs don't end there. Following the 1979 season, the Steelers' Super Bowl XIV opponent was a 9-7 Rams team who, at the time, were the worst team ever to play in a Super Bowl. The Rams were feisty though. Like the 2008 Cardinals, they had an ex-Steeler coordinator on their side, the late Bud Carson, and the game was in doubt until a late Franco Harris touchdown run sealed a 31-19 win. History Fever, catch it folks!
Super Bowl prediction coming in a future post. (I'll try to make it by Sunday, February 1st - sort of helps the credibility.) Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch last year's Super Bowl about 4 or 5 more times.
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