Super Bowl XLIII: Will Special Teams Be Super? How About The Coaches?

Over the course of an NFL season, special teams are often the difference between winning and losing. 

Could the Super Bowl be an example of that?

If you look at regular-season numbers, the Steelers special teams had better numbers than the Cardinals. 

The Steelers were were top five in opponents' kick and punt return averages. 

The Cardinals were near the bottom of the league.

As is the case with their defense, the Cardinals' special teams have improved their performance in the playoffs.  The Steelers did get a special teams TD from Santonio Holmes against the Chargers, but apart from that, the Steelers return units are not huge threats.  The same could be said of the Cardinals, whose return units are mostly known for being safe.

Arizona probably has an advantage at punter with Ben Graham over Pittsburgh's Mitch Berger.  This may result in field position advantages for the Cardinals.  Both Jeff Reed and Neil Rackers are good kickers, with Reed probably being the slightly more dependable of the two, as Rackers has had some misses inside the 40 this season.  Rackers does have a bigger leg than Reed should it comes to an attempt over 50 yards, however.

The coaching staffs are somewhat familiar with each other, due to Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm having been on the coaching staff of the Steelers' last Super Bowl team.  Although Head Coach Mike Tomlin was not on that staff, there are still several holdovers with the Steelers from that staff, notably Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau. 

A little under half the roster remains from that team, although many of the remaining Steelers would have to be categorized as important to the teams' success.  Whisenhunt's knowledge of the Steelers players strengths and weaknesses, along with their schemes and tendencies, both offensively and defensively should not be overlooked.  This could be where the Cardinals forge an advantage to win the game, if indeed they do. 

Tomorrow, I will recap, and try to pick a winner.