Countdown to Super Bowl XLIII

Both the Steelers and Cardinals have recently arrived and landed in Tampa Florida. The Steelers are coming in as the favored team and are looking to win their second super bowl in four years. The Cardinals have never even been in the presence of the Lombardi trophy before as they make their first appearance in franchise history, but there is plenty of playoff experience to back that up. Kurt Warner and Edge can tell you all about their experiences. So the Steelers are the heavy favorite and the Cardinals are the underdogs that many are cheering for but who really cares what the papers say. Once the Super Bowl is set, all regular season records and stats are thrown out the window. Homefield advantage is not even a concern and both teams have 60 minutes to prove the world that they are the best team in the NFL.

There are plenty of categories where we can compare the two but for now, let's start with the leaders behind center and the offensive linemen.

Pittsburgh has a winner and a fighter in Ben Roethlisberger who seems to be impossible to knock down. The man has found ways to overcomes plenty of deficits and you couldn't ask for a more reliable guy during a final minute drive. Well, maybe there are a few names out there, but Big Ben is a pretty good guy when it comes to winning games down the stretch. He has experience in the Super Bowl as he and the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. This quarterback will be patient and find time for his wide receivers and will make precision passes that seem almost humanly impossible.

Arizona's main man is Kurt Warner who has appeared in two Super Bowls within the last decade with the St. Louis Rams and has a ring to show for it as well as a Super Bowl MVP award. Don't forget to mention that he also had a regular season MVP award. He can shove those bragging rights' in Ben's face. Kurt Warner will definitely get hit and bruised up in the season finale but he will stay patient and show composure as a veteran leader. Both quarterbacks have blue chip talent but the one advantage Kurt will have are his tall and lengthy receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes deserve plenty of respect but Fitzgerald is an absolute freak and Anquan Boldin is not such a bad complement to him.

That's enough talk about the receivers for now. This is the quarterback 's time to shine. Both will have plenty of success in this matchup and both will struggle at times, but Kurt Warner will outshine Big Ben despite the outcome of this game.

The Steelers offensive line do not have any big name guys but they have proven to be capable of taking care of business when it came to protecting their quarterback. The running game hasn't been too shabby either as Willie Parker has run for over 100 yards in five games this season while playing only a little over half the season due to injuries. The offensive line will more than likely have a couple of faults during this highly anticipated match up, but like I said, bringing Ben Roethlisberger down won't be very easy. The line isn't the worst but expect the big man at qb to make them look better than they are.

Arizona has an offensive line led by, 322 pound Right Tackle, Levi Brown. I would probably favor these trench fighters over the ones in Pittsburgh by a small strand. They have done something that most offensive lines have failed to stay consistent at for Kurt Warner over the past few years. That is, give the man time to throw the ball. Kurt Warner has been given plenty of opportunities to find his targets this year and has once again become a top quarterback in the league. Who can we thank for this? That's right, the big men up front. Of course the Cardinals offense will have to face a much tougher defense than their own, and could get caught sleeping early on out, but expect the line to straighten up within the first quarter or else this game won't even be close. 

If both lines were to face the same defense, I would favor the Cards, but with Pittsburgh's high powered defense, I will have to take the Steelers offense line in this head to head comparison.

Say what you need to say and go ahead and make your own assumptions, but this is what I got for you readers so take it and accept it.

Shout out to Mo Williams for dropping a career high 43 points as well as 11 assists and 8 rebounds and somehow outshining LeBron's triple double night.

Look out for ESPN tomorrow night at 700 pm as the current number one team in the country drives a few miles to make a small visit to Winston Salem, North Carolina as the Blue Devils take on the Demon Deacons. A huge statement game in the ACC for both schools and there will be lots of emotion in this one. Many other top 25 teams will be on tomorrow as well, so in case this one gets a little out of hand, keep your hand on that remote and look out for other good games to be on.

-Jason Chong