Arizona will win Super Bowl XLIII
Because the Cardinals’ coaching staff WERE coaching the Steelers to win Super Bowl XL three years ago, giving them the edge this Sunday.
Isn’t that ironic? Who knew that the same coaching staff who helped the Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks for the Super Bowl would be able to return to the big dance and face this year’s Steelers at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida?
You read it, in an 
odd little twist, Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt has his roots with the Pittsburgh Steelers, serving as offensive coordinator of the team from 2004 to 2006, including the year when he helped a second-year quarterback named Ben Roethlisberger win his first Super Bowl championship ring.
He was expected to get the head coaching job the Pittsburgh Steelers had vacant when Bill Cowher stepped down two seasons ago. So was another Steelers coach, Russ Grimm, now Whisenhunt’s right-hand man in Arizona. Instead, the job went to Mike Tomlin, who returns to Tampa, the city where he began his coaching career.
The city-wide celebration set off by that clinching touchdown three years ago provided the frame of reference for many Steelers players who were asked about the irony of seeing Ken Whisenhunt coach the opposing team in Tampa. He may coach the Cardinals now, but to some Pittsburgh veterans, Whisenhunt always will be a Steeler and one of the first guys they will look for in any reunion of the 2006 Super Bowl champions.
‘’It’s going to be emotional for us,’’ Steelers left tackle Max Starks said. ‘’Those are the coaches I won my last Super Bowl with. It’s going to be old school versus new school.’’The faculty of the Cardinals coaching staff includes plenty of former Steelers coaches in addition to Whisenhunt. And even though he was considered as the likely heir apparent to Bill Cowher, Whisenhunt took the Cardinals job when he sensed the Steelers wanted to go in a different direction.
Current Cardinals assistant head coach Russ Grimm, who was runner-up to Lovie Smith for the Bears job in 2004, joined Whisenhunt in Arizona after losing out on the Steelers’ head-coaching job when Mike Tomlin was hired in 2007. Arizona special teams coach Kevin Spencer, linebackers coach Billy Davis, wide receivers coach Mike Miller and defensive assistant Matt Reich were Steelers coaches as well.
‘’I’m proud and happy for coach Whisenhunt, coach Grimm and coach Spencer,’’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. ‘’It is going to be fun to play them again.’’
‘’It’s going to be weird seeing Whiz, Spence and Russ on the other side,’’ added Steelers receiver Hines Ward.But will it provide the Cardinals any strategic advantage as Whisenhunt shares personal scouting reports on Roethlisberger with defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast?
‘’Whiz knows everything about all of us,’’ Steelers running back Willie Parker said. ‘’He’s a smart coach and I know he’s going to try to take advantage [of his familiarity].’’That was the case the last time these two teams played, a 21-14 victory by the Cardinals on September 30, 2007.
After that game, in which Arizona harassed Roethlisberger into two interceptions and sacked him four times, Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes said the Cardinals knew how to find their soft spots. ‘’He was sending guys left and right, bringing pressure as much as he could to try and disrupt our offense,’’ Holmes said after that game.
The Steelers know Whisenhunt and his staff will put their heads together again to put their familiarity to good use. And that familiarity is likely to put a strain on everybody’s hearts.’’It’s a good coaching staff and we have a lot of respect to go against Ken and those coaches,’’ Steelers team President Art Rooney II said. ‘’It’ll be emotional, special for both sides, for sure.’’
Can the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals to win Super Bowl XLIII? SportsBetting.com has the odds.
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