Ricky’s Page

This is a post for myself and those other Cardinals fans out there.  (The likelihood of one of them stumbling upon this blog is pretty bleak, so this post is pretty much for myself.)  This is my attempt to move on from that amazing Superbowl game.  Twelve months ago, heck two months ago  not a soul in Arizona would ever have dreampt the Cardinals would someday be in the Superbowl.  I remember before the big game saying, “you know what, I just want it to be a good game.  I know they probably aren’t going to win it, but if they just make it a good game, I will be happy with that.”  Well, I got my wish.  Some are saying that was the most exciting Superbowl ever.  And the Cardinals wound up on the loosing end of it.  And it’s hard to say Im happy about it.  They were so close, sooooooo close to winning that thing!  Over the storied Pittsburgh Steelers.  When Larry Fitzgerald ran that touchdown in to put the Cardinals ahead with three minutes, what an exhillerating moment!  It seemed very likely at that point that the Cardinals could win it!  And at the very least force overtime and have a good chance to win that.  But the Steelers put together one of the most memorable two-and-a-half minute touchdown drives ever to win the game.  Man they were so close.  So anyways lets dig up a few things that the Cardinals can be proud of (though they all seem to kind of fade away to the fact that they let the greatest Superbowl comeback victory ever slip through their fingers).  Here’s the biggie.  The Cardinals managed to gain 407 yards against Pittsburgh’s number 1 rated and much publicized defense.  I remember reading an article afterwards that said “if defense wins championships, it will have to go find another sport.”  The Cardinals made the league’s number one defense look silly.  That’s pretty cool.  The Steelers incidently gained only 292 yards. (So that means statistically Arizona’s defense did a little better job holding their offense too.  Do you remember that goal line stand with six straight snaps holding them to a field goal.  That was clutch).   Here’s something you may not have thought of, but not only did Arizona’s offense outgain Pittsburgh but they also outscored them, 21 to 20.   The rushing yards were pretty much a wash, with pittsburgh getting about sixty and arizona about thirty.  The Cardinals got 23 first downs to Pittsburgh’s 20.  Steelers were 4 for 10 on third downs, and Cardinals were 3 for 4.  So what the Cardinals did against the Steelers defense really was amazing.  But of course, there is one stat that towers over all stats, and that’s the final score.  Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23.  What was the big difference in this game?  I think there were two big negatives for the Cardinals that I am amazed that they almost overcame.  They got over one hundred yards in penalties, becoming the most penalized team in Superbowl history.  And the biggie, and I believe the whole game definitely swung on this one play, the one play that if it went the other way I believe Arizona would be Superbowl champs:  When Harrison intercepted Warner’s touchdown pass in the end zone at the very end of the half and ran it all the way back to score for the Steelers.  Can you believe that!  A fourteen point play.  If that were a Cardinals touchdown it wouldve been 14 to 10 Cardinals at halftime.  Instead it was 17 to 7 Steelers, taking that momentun from the Cardinals, and digging a hole that would prove too big to escape.  Arizona fans will have two plays running through their minds for years.  That interception and touchdown at halftime, and of course the much famed game-winning catch by Santonio Holmes at the end of the game.