Super Bowl XLIII: Cardinal Defense Picked Wrong Time to Choke

Congratulations, Arizona Cardinals. Your defense will do down as the goats that blew it in Super Bowl XLIII.

Take note, Cardinals fans, that I did not mean the offense. Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and the rest of the firepower for the NFC champions did their share of the work. They outgained Pittsburgh on total net yards, 407 to 292.

And yes, Warner did give up an interception by James Harrison that he returned 100 yards for a touchdown (a Super Bowl record).

But he did give Arizona the lead with a 64-yard bomb to Fitzgerald with 2:47 to go.

And this was where you had to head down there and close the deal.

As Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers cement the franchise's place as the most prolific among the 32 teams in the National Football League with their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy, your Cardinal defenders have ruined an opportunity to give your club its first Vince Lombardi Trophy in the 110 years it has been in existence.

"How could we have done this?" you say. "How could we have let our fans down, the state of Arizona down, everyone rooting for the underdog down, but most importantly, ourselves down?"

It's quite simple, really.

You should know by now that defense wins championships. Why couldn't you have stopped Santonio Holmes from making that 6-yard catch from Ben Roethlisberger with 42 seconds to go in the game?

Actually, why couldn't you have made any stops altogether? Why couldn't you have forced a turnover or make the key stop on Philadelphia's last drives two weeks ago at the University of Phoenix Stadium?

Has the phrase "Defense Wins Championships" become outdated? Or have Mike Tomlin's Steelers become a legit exception to this rule?

But the biggest question should be this: This is the very first Super Bowl you have competed in. For all the breakthrough success you had this season, this could become the only time you are on this grand a stage. Who knows if you are going to return here again?

These are the questions that you will have to deal with until next season begins as you make the long flight back to Phoenix wondering what could have been.

You have, undoubtedly, picked the wrong time to choke.