Ok, so the Arizona Cardinals of the NFC of the NFL just won the NFC Conference Championship. This is for one absolutely awesome, but it also gives me a bittersweet feeling. As most of the people that will read this know, I used to live in Arizona. In fact, I used to go to Cardinals games when Jake "The Snake" Plummer was their quarterback and they played in the Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium. But, since then they are on their 3rd or 4th quarterback, Kurt Warner, and they have moved the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale and I have moved back to Fort Collins. Also, since then I have become a huge New England Patriots fan. Yes, I know all the stuff that happened last year in Super Bowl XLII. So please, don't leave any of that crap in the comments.
But it is sort of weird. I have been living in Colorado for 10 years now. But sometimes I want to go back to Arizona. I do not know why, but there are just times when that would just be awesome.
But, now back to the Cardinals. The Team that no one believed in is going to the Super Bowl, number XLIII, in Tampa, Florida. It still feels weird to say it, but the Arizona Cardinals ARE in fact going to the Super Bowl. But what a ride it has been this postseason for the Cardinals out the NFC West division (they won that too). They came into the postseason after losing 47-7 to the New England Patriots and six other games too. Those teams include playoff teams: the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles (who they exacted revenge on), the New York Giants, and the Carolina Panthers. They lost to non-playoff teams like: the Washington Redskins, the New England Patriots, and the New York Jets. They may have come from the 2nd worst division in the NFL next to the AFC West (the Denver Broncos division), but they are still going to the Super Bowl. They beat teams like the San Francisco 49'ers (twice), the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, the Dallas Cowboys, the St. Louis Rams (twice), and the Seattle Seahawks (twice).
This isn't the best record to go to the playoffs with. So nobody gave them any respect. Nobody picked them to beat the Atlanta Falcons (they did) and because they didn't have any wins in the Eastern Time Zone this year absolutely NOBODY thought they could go into Carolina, where they had already lost this year, and beat a Panthers team that was the 2 seed in the NFC and who had not lost at home all year. But guess what? The Cardinals handed it to the Panthers. 33-13.
After that, how could you not give them at least some respect? But guess what, most of the experts still gave the Cardinals no respect and picked the Eagles to win the NFC Championship, even though it was in Arizona, where the Cardinals had played great all year. I don't know how the experts did that, but I did pick the Cardinals to win. I knew from how they have played at home this year and from how soundly they beat the Panthers that they would win. And guess what, they did. They played a great game against a great Philadelphia Eagles team that put up a great fight in the 2nd half. Just when it looked like the Eagles were down and out at the half it was 24-6, they held the Cards scoreless in the 3rd quarter and then in the 4th took a short lived lead 25-24. The Cards didn't give up though, they scored one touchdown to make it 30-24 and Kurt Warner threw a 2 point conversion to Ben Patrick and the Cards took the lead for good 32-24.
And now, (and it still feels weird to say it) the Arizona Cardinals are going to Tampa, Florida to play in Super Bowl XLIII. And I mean, after these playoffs, how can you not give them a chance? I know I am. They are my pick to win in two weeks. I have the Cardinals over the Steelers 38-27 in the Super Bowl. There you have it. That's it, the end. The Cardinals will win the NFL/ World Championship and become the NFL/World Champions. Kurt Warner will be the MVP, and I mean, how can you give it to anyone else? He is the heart and soul of this team and he will beat the #1 defense this year because although defense wins championships as the saying goes, it will not this year. The offense of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Edgerrin James combined with their defense (awesome as of late, but middle of the pack during the regular season) will triumph over Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh offense and Troy Polamalu and the Pittsburgh defense and will come out as world champions.
That's my prediction, that's my reasoning. You can question it all you want, I don't care. Just leave it in the comments and I might get around to answering it over the next two weeks.
We'll See You in Tampa!
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