Trio of NFL.com writers want Cardinals in Super Bowl
Jun 11, 2016, 9:30 AM
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) scores a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Five NFL.com writers were asked to give their dream Super Bowl matchups Thursday and three of them wrote they are hoping to see the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl LI in Houston.
With the Cardinals only making it to one Super Bowl where they lost to the Steelers 27-23 in 2009, Solomon Wilcots feels that a rematch against the gold and black would be a match made in heaven.
I want a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals. This time around, the matchup would be focused on the coaches. Bruce Arians was a member of Mike Tomlin’s coaching staff during the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII victory. Arians was a great mentor of Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh and is trying to do the same with Carson Palmer in Arizona. He’s also built the Cardinals’ defense like the one the Steelers had in the 2008 season. Both teams are dominant on offense, but I think Arizona has the defensive edge. The story writes itself: Arians coached under Tomlin, was essentially fired by him and comes back to beat him in the Super Bowl.
The Cardinals have yet to win a Lombardi Trophy, while the Steelers boast the most Super Bowl titles in the league (six). It would be a phenomenal, historic matchup — and one of potential revenge.
The game would feature two of the best passing offenses, as Arizona ranked 2nd in the league with 288.5 yards per game, while the Steelers were 3rd with 287.7 in the 2015 season.
On the defensive side, both teams held their opponents to an average of 91.2 yards running the ball, but the Cardinals gave up more touchdowns to running backs with nine to Pittsburgh’s six. The Cardinals did have a leg up on the Steelers in yards allowed per game with 321.7, while the Steelers struggled, giving up 363.1.
For Michael Robinson, his Super Bowl matchup deals with another west coast team.
I want to see the West Coast Super Bowl matchup of Arizona vs. Oakland. First of all, I like to see Oakland doing well because it takes everybody back in history to when they were unstoppable.
We’ve all seen, especially in the last few Super Bowls, how a defense can dictate the game. And both of these teams could be quite stout on that side of the ball in 2016. We know the Cardinals have defensive talent at every level — the group’s been nasty in recent years. Meanwhile, the Raiders are loaded with promise, boasting a fine mix of youth and experience on D. I’d like to see two dominant defensive units play in Super Bowl LI.
The matchup between the Cardinals and the Raiders would be a surprise to a lot of people, but Oakland has made improvements under head coach Jack Del Rio going from 3-13 in 2014 to 7-9 last season.
Even still, Oakland has room to improve work after only averaging 333.5 yards per game last season, which ranked 24th, while they were 28th in rushing with 91.1 yards per game. The Cardinals on the other hand were 8th running the ball with 119.8 yards per outing.
Shaun O’Hara believes a Jets-Cardinals matchup would be enticing with a lot of subplots leading into the big game.
There are some great veteran players in the league who haven’t had a chance to play in a Super Bowl, so I’d like to see the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals face off in Houston.
Ryan Fitzpatrick used to play for Houston, so it’d be interesting to see him lead the Jets to football’s biggest game — after signing a contract before training camp — and play back in NRG Stadium.
Prior to becoming the Jets’ head coach, Todd Bowles was the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals under Bruce Arians. Both are respected coaches and it would be a hotly contested matchup with the rosters they have.
A Jets-Cardinals Super Bowl would be a rematch of Week 6 when the Cardinals play Monday Night at home against New York.
The Cardinals would play against a familiar face in Jets’ head coach Todd Bowles, who was Bruce Arians’ defensive coordinator for two seasons before taking over in New York in 2015.
The Cardinals outplayed the Jets in almost every category last season, both defensively and offensively, but New York did rank 2nd in rush defense, holding opponents to 83.4 yards per game and only giving up four touchdowns in the season.
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