NFL Super Bowl XLIII is shaping up to be a classic case of David versus Goliath.
At the start of the NFL season many experts picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to go all the way to the Super Bowl. With a ferocious defense led by safety Troy Polamalu and an experienced quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers looked good from the start.
"This is a great year, and everything has just worked out great," Steelers owner Dan Rooney told the Associated Press. "This was such a tough year. The schedule was really tough. We were always going. We never thought it was impossible."
If the Steelers win it will be the sixth time that Pittsburgh has won the Super Bowl, which would be a new NFL record.
The Arizona Cardinals are a completely different story. As easily the worst NFL team in history the Cardinals looked to be improved this season. But nobody would have predicted a trip to Tampa to play in Super Bowl XLIII.
The Cardinals started the year strong but were beaten badly in several late season games, including a 47-7 thrashing at the hands of the New England Patriots.
However, led by veteran quarterback Kurt Warner and Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals appeared to wake up after the whipping, taking flight at exactly the right time.
"[Fitzgerald] has 419 yards in the postseason, and it isn't over with. He's breaking some of Jerry Rice's records," Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor said. "From what he's displaying week in and week out, yeah, he's one of the best in the world."
And if Fitzgerald can get loose once again, it might just turn this year’s Super Bowl into one of the greatest upsets in NFL history.
“Adversity makes you stronger and obviously that worked out for us," Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt told the Boston Globe, "because at the end of the year we're playing a lot better football."
Related stories:
