Super Bowl XLIII: Time For An Educated Guess

All right, online sports betting participants. The time for talking has ended. It's time to make a decision: Pittsburgh or Arizona?

On one hand, even though sportsbook odds indicate that the Cardinals are the underdog, they are the team playing the best football right now. On the other hand, they are still the Cardinals, and they are representing the weaker NFC.

Here's the bottom line: Arizona has played better in the postseason mostly because of their renewed commitment to their running game. And the running game was successful against Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia, all NFC teams.

With a functional ground game, the offensive line didn't have to pass protect 200 times a game. the Cardinals were able to keep opposing defenses off balance and the defense was fresh, since the offense dominated time of possession.

But sportsbook odds makers have the Steelers favored by seven for a reason. The Steelers have the No. 2 ranked run defense and the No. 1 ranked scoring defense.

The former ranking might be more important as the Cardinals might be back to their usual one-dimensional selves if Edgerrin James runs in to the Steel wall.

The Steelers don't give up yards on the ground to anyone, so the Cardinals won't be any different. If the Cardinals can't run the ball, then Kurt Warner is going to start feeling some heat from the defense that ranked second in the NFL in sacks (51).

If the Cardinals offense is going to be predictable, they aren't going to score 30+ points like they did in the first three rounds of the playoffs. More importantly, their defense will spend lots of time on the field, where they will get exposed.

The Steelers are the better team. They've gone through a tougher schedule, they've had the more impressive season, they have the better defense, and they are more experienced.

Now, it's all just a matter of executing. As long as they don't make a ton of mistakes on Sunday, sportsbook bettors who backed the Steelers will be getting paid out when the clock hits four zeroes in the fourth quarter.