2011 Preview By The Numbers: Steelers @ Arizona Cardinals
By Todd
Courtesy unathleticmag.com
Let’s have a look at this upcoming matchup in the 2011 season and see how the Mighty Black and Gold match-up to the Arizona Cardinals.
Recent History
Regular readers of this blog will recognize the moniker “Pittsburgh West” as a description for Arizona, and with each passing season it seems that nickname fits even more.
Ken “Wiz” Whisenhunt is the head coach in Arizona. You may recall that he was the offensive coordinator under Bill Cowher. When Cowher retired, Whisenhunt interviewed for the Steelers’ head coaching position, but took the Arizona job before the Steelers made a formal announcement of who their selection would be.
Russ Grimm, who was the Steelers offensive line coach under Cowher, went with Whisenhunt when he, Grimm, was not offered the Steelers’ head coach position.
Since then, a number of Steelers’ players and coaches have made their way to Valley of the Sun. Players like Joey Porter, Alan Faneca, and Clark Haggans have played for Whisenhunt in Arizona. During this offseason, Steelers’ defensive backs coach Ray Horton left the ‘Burgh for the desert.
The Steelers lead the all time series 32-23-3, including the Super Bowl win two years ago. Before that, Arizona managed to beat the Steelers in 2007. This series dates back to 1933 when the Cardinals were playing in Chicago. (Interestingly, the Steelers and the Cardinals were once a merged team resulting in the unfortunate nickname “Carpets.” Card-Pitts, get it?)
This Cardinals team will look a lot different from the one the Steelers saw in Feb. ’09, mostly due to the retirement of Kurt Warner.
Warner is a Hall of Fame candidate in my book. The man holds a couple dozen NFL records for quarterbacks, not the least of which are most passing yards in a single Super Bowl (414), and most passing yards in the Super Bowl for a career (1156 yards in 3 games). He amassed more than 32,000 yards passing and career passer rating of 93.7 in 12 NFL seasons.
If I have my say, he will be enshrined one day, but the Hall of Fame committee won’t even return my calls about Dermontti Dawson, so I doubt I will have much say about Warner.
Let’s look at how this matchup plays out.
Arizona’s offense vs. Pittsburgh’s defense
Without Warner last year, the Cardinals were pitiful on offense. They ranked 31st in passing yards and dead last in rushing. Any doubts you might have about the NFL being a quarterback driven league should be put to rest by this stat: The Cardinals had more than 4000 passing yards in 2009, Warner’s last year. In 2010, they had fewer than 3000. When you lose a quarter of your production, you have taken a sizable hit. That drop in passing led to a drop in rushing as defenses could play more run defense without Warner in the backfield.
The Steelers were great on defense last year (of course), but absolutely dominating against the run. The Steel Curtain, version 2.2, allowed only 62.8 yards per game on the ground (1st in the league, and it wasn’t close). In other words, nobody, but nobody, ran on the Steelers last year.
Pass defense, as we all know, was the Achilles’ heal of the Steelers. While the Steelers finished with 48 sacks (an amazing 3 sacks per game), they allowed 214.1 passing yards per game (12th). This means when the opposing team kept Harrison, Woodley, and Timmons off their QB, he probably completed a few good passes.
This is not good news for Steelers Nation. If the Cardinals can find someone competent to take the snaps and can keep that man from getting his head pounded into the turf, they might find a way to get the ball down the field on the Steelers and score a few points. That is a big “if,” though.
Arizona’s Defense vs. Pittsburgh’s Offense
On the other side of the ball, Pittsburgh’s offense seemed to be very balanced last year. They were 11th in the league with 120.2 rushing yards per game and had 225.1 passing yards per game, good for 14th in league.
Ben Roethlisberger had a very good, albeit it suspension-shortened, season, and Rashard Mendenhall continued to impress. Both of those men played behind an offensive line that was decimated by injuries. To have made it to the Super Bowl with all the adversity they faced on that line is a testament to Coach Tomlin’s philosophy of “No Excuses.”
Arizona’s rush defense was dreadful. They gave up 145.2 yards per game, ranking them 30th in the league.
Their pass defense was not much better. They were 23rd against the pass, allowing 228.4 yards per game.
This is good news for the Steelers. With their starting O-linemen returning, they should be able to run on the Cardinals (barring any dramatic moves once the CBA is finalized). Running the ball means fewer passes and less of a chance for those nasty linebackers to go after Ben.
Location, Location, Location
The real mystery is how the Cards managed to win 5 games last year, one of which was over the then-defending champion New Orleans Saints in week 5.
The answer to that mystery is that they won at home. Four of those wins were in University of Phoenix Stadium. Again, this is not good news for the Black and Gold. However, the other side of that coin is that the Steelers, who have rightfully earned a reputation as a great road team, lost only one road game during the regular season last year. That was the Halloween debacle in New Orleans.
My Take
I do not see this as being much of a game, in reality. The Steelers are one of the elite teams in the NFL. The Cardinals seem to want to change their image from consistent losers to occasional winners. Bringing in a lot of former-Steelers talent is one way to do that, but they have a long way to go.
The Cards had back-to-back postseason appearances (2008-2009), including their first Super Bowl appearance, going into the 2010 season. The retirement of Kurt Warner at the end of 2009 (along with other key losses, like Anquan Boldin) has left the Cardinals with many questions and very few answers.
The Cardinals’ quarterback situation is a mess and doesn’t really show any signs of improvement. Right now, their starting quarterback is Derek Anderson. Let’s be honest here. If your starting quarterback is a Cleveland reject, you have problems in the quarterback position. If the Cardinals draft a quarterback, and then have the sand to play him against the Steelers, well, do I really have to say what might happen? Historically, rookie QBs have very little success against the Steelers.
On top of their quarterback issues, the Cards have real concerns on the defensive side of the ball. They couldn’t stop anyone last year from doing whatever they wanted, especially running the ball.
The Steelers, on the other hand, are solid in most respects outside of the defensive secondary. The O-line should be improved with starters returning from injury.
Depending on when this game falls in the schedule, it could be a trap game. Plus, the trip out to Arizona is not fun, but I think the Steelers will handle this game pretty easily and get out of Arizona with a win.
Let’s hope this game takes place early in the season, and does not precede or follow a Ravens game.