Cardinals and Steelers met at UofP Stadium before
Oct 21, 2011, 4:33 PM | Updated: 5:44 pm
In the Ken Whisenhunt era the Arizona Cardinals have
played the Pittsburgh Steelers twice.
All Cardinals fans should remember one of those occasions
was in Super Bowl XLIII, which the Cardinals lost in the
final seconds.
But before that the teams met at University of Phoenix
Stadium in 2007, where Whisenhunt picked up his second as
a head coach.
At that time though things were a little different, most
notably the Cardinals were still using two quarterbacks in
Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart.
In the game Warner had 132 yards and one touchdown while
Leinart compiled 93 yards with no touchdowns.
Another difference was that wideout Steve Breaston was
still on the team. Breaston, a rookie, had a 73 yard punt
return for a touchdown that gave the Cardinals a 14-7 lead
in the fourth quarter.
Edgerrin James rushed for 77 yards and one touchdown,
which sealed the 21-14 victory for the Cardinals.
Three current Cardinals had an impact on the game as well,
with Larry Fitzgerald tallying 120 yards receiving,
Darnell Dockett sacking Ben Roethlisberger two and a half
times and Adrian Wilson picking the QB off in the end
zone.
The Cardinals held Ben Roethlisberger to just an average
day, as the QB threw for 244 yards, two touchdowns and was
intercepted twice. But 128 of those yards and both
touchdowns went to wide receiver Santonio Holmes, the same
guy that would ruin the Super Bowl for the Cardinals just
one year later.
Steelers running back Willie Parker was also held in
check, only rushing for 37 yards.
It is worth noting that even though the Cardinals won the
game the Steelers were without star safety Troy Polamalu.
With Polamalu the outcome could’ve been different as the
Steelers defense is a different animal when Polamalu
plays.
Another defensive note is current Cardinal Clark Haggans,
who was with the Steelers at the time, did have a sack.
So even though Whiz’s Cardinals have enjoyed some success
against the Steelers, fans probably shouldn’t buy to much
into the win considering many of the key players for the
teams won’t be on the field when the teams meet this
Sunday.
So maybe the Cardinals can find the magic under the roof
of University of Phoenix Stadium and take the first step
in righting the team’s season.
