Wow…..that was a game for the ages wasn’t it? We certainly got a little bit of everything in what turned out to be a record setting Super Bowl. We really thought the Cards would win this game. Had they not committed 11 penalties, not deferred the opening kickoff, bring Harrison down on the INT return and contained the Steelers in the final two minutes, they would be the Champs. Here is a recap of our Super Bowl Forecast.
STEELERS 27 vs CARDINALS 23
Warner was the more productive QB in this game and he exceeded a projected 280 yards and 3 TD’s with 1 INT by passing for 377 yards. The Cards were not able to dominate with their rushing attack. Edgerrin James had just 33 rushing yards and added another 28 receiving yards. Tim Hightower was virtually invisible with just 13 receiving yards. We had the Cards wide receiver numbers backwards as yet another team was unable to stop the dominant one. WR Larry Fitzgerald had a very quiet first half but finished with a flurry. He ended up well above our call of 85 yards and 1 TD as he finished with 127 yards and two TD’s. WR Anquan Boldin was a force early on but finished with eight catches for 87 and no TD’s. WR Steve Breaston came in above our call of 55 receiving yards as he finished with 71. As suggested, the Cards tight ends where ask to block all game but TE Ben Patrick did catch one pass for one yard and one TD.
QB Ben Roethlisberger was projected to throw for 230 yards passing with 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s. He finished the game with 258 yards 1 TD and 1 INT. The Steelers were projected to rush for 110 yards in this one with 1 TD. They fell way short of that with just 58 net rushing yards. RB Willie Parker led the way with 53 rushing yards (projected for 60) but did not get a TD. RB Mewelde Moore and RB Gary Russell were both invisible in this one. WR Hines Ward was clearly not healthy. A Projected 45 receiving yards without a score from him, but he finished with 43 yards. WR Santonio Holmes won the MVP award and came in above our call of 65 yards and 1 TD as he finished with 127 yards and 1 TD. Nate Washington and Limas Sweed were both non-factors in this one. TE Heath Miller came close to our call of seven catches for 50 yards and 1 TD as he finished with five catches for 57 yards but failed to score a TD.
Bottom Line: The Cardinals had every chance to win this game and they should have won it. The reasons mentioned above and the no quit Steelers prevented that from happening.
Stats Score: Cardinals 31 Steelers 27. The Steelers got to 27 while the Cardinals finished at 23. All and all, a pretty good forecast of Super Bowl XLIII.
That’s it for our final game blog of the 2008 season. We will be active during the off season and posting on the happenings around the league as warranted, so please stay tuned!
StatsGuru
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