The Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers are in Super Bowl XLIII (translated to 43), which is on Sunday, February 1, 2009, with kickoff at 6:20 PM Eastern Time, aired by NBC.

Nobody predicted the Cardinals would be in the Super Bowl this year.  It goes to show how important a good coach is (Whisenhunt…not Dennis Green), and how important veteran leadership is (Warner…not Leinart).

Even though they had some not-so-good games this year, the Steelers defense was still one of the best.  And with a very good, and experienced, offense, led by another excellent Steelers head coach that will be there for many, many years to come (just like Cowher and Noll), it’s no surprise that they’re in the Super Bowl this year.

Both teams showed amazing improvement in both of their weak areas during the regular season.  The Cardinals defense was hit-or-miss each week, and the Steelers offensive line steadily let defenders in their backfield to disrupt both passing and rushing plays.  Hats off to the coaching staff for getting their teams where they need to be to make it to the Super Bowl.

The line for the game came out with the Steelers as the 6 1/2 point favorite.  The Tampa Bay stadium (Raymond James) is turf, which is beneficial for the Cardinals.  Both teams have injured stud WRs (Ward and Bolding).  With two weeks of prep time, I believe this one will be a close one.  So, go with the underdog if the spread is big!