XBOX 360 Simulation for Super Bowl XLIII
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals 6:20 ET NBC
Weather: partly cloudy, highs in the lower 70s with lows in the mid 40s.
The right to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy will be on the line this evening when the Pittsburgh Steelers (14-4, 11-7 ATS) and Arizona Cardinals (12-7, 12-7 ATS) lock horns in the 43rd edition of the Super Bowl; kick-off is slated for 6:20 ET and the game can be seen nationally on NBC.
Pittsburgh managed to navigate its way to Tampa Bay by winning and covering each of its playoff games as home favorites against the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens. Three Jeff Reed field goals, a 65-yard pass and catch from QB Ben Roethlisberger to WR Santonio Holmes, and a 40-yard interception return for a score punched the Steelers tickets back to the big game for the second time in four seasons.
Arizona took care of its three post-season sports betting battles to get to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. They outlasted the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 as 1.5-point home chalks in the Wild Card Round, shocked the Carolina Panthers as lofty 10-point road underdogs in the Divisional Round, and cashed $$$-Line tickets for NFL bettors in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
These clubs last met back in September of 2007 in a game that saw new head coach Ken Whisenhunt get the best of his former club by a 21-14 final count as 6-point home underdogs. The Steelers were decent to their betting backers on the road this season compiling 6-2 SU and 5-3 ATS marks. Arizona chimes in with a 4-5 SU mark in its nine road games, but churned out a small profit for NFL bettors by going 5-4 ATS.
Without further ado, let’s see how this one plays out….
1st Quarter:
The coin toss was won by Pittsburgh after it landed on heads, and they chose to kick the ball away to start the game.
Arizona set up shop at its own 17-yard line after WR Steve Breaston was cut down immediately. After RB Edgerrin James was stuffed on the Cardinals first two downs from scrimmage, QB Kurt Warner hooked up with WR Anquan Boldin for a 13-yard gain, but it wasn’t enough to move the chains.
Pittsburgh’s offense took over with solid field position after WR/PR Santonio Holmes called for the fair catch at the Steelers 40-yard line. RB Willie Parker was dropped for losses on successive downs, and then “Big Ben’s” first pass fell incomplete when it deflected off the fingertips of TE Heath Miller. Punting time….
RB James moved the chains after three straight carries, but the Cardinals couldn’t pick up another 1st down and were forced to punt once again. Punter Ben Graham pinned the Steelers back at their own 12-yard line and got a slap on the helmet from head coach Whisenhunt when he returned to the sideline.
RB’s Parker and Mewelde Moore got the Steelers offense out to their own 32-yard line when the first huge play of Super Bowl XVIII occurred. RB Parker proceeded to go on another huge Super Bowl jaunt where he raced 68-yards to pay dirt to give the AFC the first lead of the game. Tomlin and the coaching staff were seen pumping their arms in jubilation when he raced passed them for the score.
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The Cardinals couldn’t do anything with their next possession either, but P Graham came up with another solid punt that pinned the Steelers on their own six-yard line. After Pitt failed to move the chains, the Cardinals took over at Pitt’s 47-yard line after WR/PR Breaston picked up seven yards before running out of bounds.
The Cardinals moved the chains on an 11-yard pass and catch from Warner to TE Leonard Pope, and then moved all the way down to Pitt’s 23-yard line after a roughing the quarterback penalty. The drive was capped off with a TD strike from Warner to WR Anquan Boldin from 13-yards out.
After the kick-off, the first turnover of the game occurred when AZ CB Antrel Rolle stepped in front of a Roethlisberger offering and returned it to the Steelers 25-yard line.
PITTSBURGH 7 ARIZONA 7
2nd QUARTER
The first play of the 2nd quarter saw AZ WR Larry Fitzgerald pick up his first reception of the game. It was of the 11-yard variety and moved the Cardinals into the Steelers red zone. After RB’s James and Tim Hightower set up a 1st and goal after combining for 10-yards on a pair of rushes, RB James plunged in from four-yards out to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game. HC Whisenhunt and his staff made it a point to shake hands or give a slap of the helmet to every player that came off the field.
Neither team did anything with its next possession, but Pitt got back on the board on its third possession of the 2nd quarter. After Santonio Holmes set the offense up at their own 40 after a 14-yard punt return, QB Roethlisberger got the offenses wheels’ spinning after connecting with WR Heinz Ward for a 14-yard gain to get them past midfield. RB’s Parker and Moore did the rest combining to rush the ball on seven of the Steelers next nine plays, and the scoring drive came to a conclusion when RB Parker strolled in from six-yards out to knot the game up at 14 apiece. The nine-play drive took 6+ minutes off the clock.
Arizona moved the chains on its next drive when Warner hooked up with Fitzgerald for 14-yards on 3rd down, and they moved passed midfield again on 3rd and long when Warner connected with RB J.J. Arrington for 11 more yards. Back-to-back big plays then occurred when Warner connected with WR Steve Breaston for 23-yards to get them down to Pittsburgh’s 19-yard line, but he followed that strike up with an interception that was hauled in by LB James Harrison after it was deflected by RE Brett Keisel.
The Steelers salted the remaining 17 seconds away, and the teams went into the locker room all knotted up at 14.
PITTSBURGH 14 ARIZONA 14
3rd Quarter
After a combined 28-point performance in the first half, not a single point was put on the board in the 3rd quarter. Both defenses buckled down forcing a number of three and outs, and QB Warner was picked off for the second time in the game when the Cardinals were marching towards midfield.
The Cardinals defense also forced QB Roethlisberger to the sideline for a series after he suffered a brutal blow to the head when sacked; the costly hit did penalize the Cardinals 15-yards, but back-up QB Byron Leftwich wasn’t able to do anything after that. The quarter came to a close with the exact same score of the first half, but the Steelers were in the midst of a scoring drive set up at the Cardinals 30-yard line when the quarter came to a close.
PITTSBURGH 14 ARIZONA 14
4TH QUARTER
RB Parker picked up a seven-yard gain on the first play of the 4th quarter, and then WR Ward moved the chains after hauling in an eight-yard reception. Arizona turned up the heat on the next three plays dropping RB Parker for a loss and forcing back-to-back incomplete passes from the woozy Ben Roethlisberger. After a false start on their initial field goal attempt, K Jeff Reed calmly nailed the 37-yarder to put the Steelers back on top.
The Cardinals looked clueless on their next possession as the Steelers forced a three and out, and the special teams set the offense up with solid field position once again after the fair catch was called for at their own 45-yard line. Roethlisberger hooked up with WR Ward for 15-more yards, but the offense could do nothing else forcing HC Tomlin to call upon K Reed once again. His 47-yard attempt sailed wide left though, which ultimately kept the Cardinals within striking distance.
That said; they did nothing with the pigskin once again as the Steelers defense was just too relentless giving Warner no time to complete a pass. The Steelers looked to milk the game clock on their next possession, but the Cardinals kept it to a minimum by not allowing them to move the chains. Pittsburgh punted and the Cardinals took over at their own 17-yard line with 2:24 left in the game.
After back-to-back four yard carries by RB James, Warner’s cadence picked up the first down the old fashioned way after the Steelers front line jumped into the neutral zone. Warner hit TE Jeremy Urban for a five-yard gain on 1st and 10, and then the biggest play in Cardinals franchise history occurred when WR Steve Breaston got a couple steps on his defender and hauled in a 49-yard bomb with his fingertips to put the Cardinals on top with just over a minute left in the game. AZ’s sideline erupted as did all the Cardinal fans in attendance when Breaston returned to the sideline to get pummeled by the rest of his teammates in celebration.
With old ‘MO’ clearly on AZ’s side, Roethlisberger and the offense returned to the field needing no less than a touchdown to pull out the come-from-behind victory. With AZ clearly playing prevent, “Big Ben” picked up a quick 30-yards with out-route passes to Holmes and Ward. TE Heath Miller came up with a seven-yard gain to get them to midfield with 33 ticks left on the clock, but he was tackled inbounds and HC Tomlin was forced to burn his last time out. Staring at a 2nd and 3 from AZ’s 48, Roethlisberger looked Ward’s way, but the pass was thrown in back of him and fell incomplete. Arizona’s defense got to “Big Ben” on the next play, but he scrambled out of the pocket and connected with RB Mewelde Moore on a dump-off pass that saw him race out of bounds after picking up 18-yards.
Now set up 1st and 10 at AZ’s 30 with under 20 seconds remaining, the Steelers decided to go to the endzone. Roethlisberger’s first pass sailed through the uprights after all his guys were well covered. His second offering moved the Steelers to AZ’s 17-yard line after he went for the dump off to Moore again, but only six seconds remained after the play. AZ rushed only two and dropped nine on the games final play that saw Roethlisberger throw into the crowded left corner of the endzone. The pigskin was secured, but by a member sporting a Cardinal on his helmet and Arizona pulled off the unthinkable to win Super Bowl XLIII!!! Thank goodness for parity….huh??
Free Computer Super Bowl Pick – FINAL SCORE: PITTSBURGH 17 ARIZONA 21
This game simulation calls for an outright Arizona win and for the game to go under the posted ‘Total’. You can get Arizona (+6’) –115 and the under 46.5 –110 at BetUS.com right now!!!
QB Ben Roethlisberger: 13/28 176 yards 0 TD 2 INT
QB Kurt Warner: 21/39 223 yards 2 TD 2 INT
RB Willie Parker: 30 carries for 113 yards 2 TD Long of 68
RB Edgerrin James: 18 carries for 85 yards 1 TD Long of 11
WR Heinz Ward: 5 receptions for 58 yards 0 TD Long of 15
WR Steve Breaston: 4 receptions for 96 yards 1 TD Long of 49
