Tag: Super Bowl 43 (Page 3 of 3)

      Greg Cossell uses immense film study to predict Super Bowl winner

      January 30, 2009 /

      Greg Cosell of SportingNews.com made his Super Bowl XLIII prediction on Thursday and claimed victory for Pittsburgh because the, “one-dimensional Cardinals can’t beat Steelers D.”

      He even gave a predicted final score:

      Larry FitzgeraldAfter careful deliberation and hours and hours of film study the past 10 days, I have come to this conclusion about Super Bowl 43: Steelers 27, Cardinals 20.

      After reading that, one could come to the conclusion that Cosell was being facetious. He didn’t really spend “hours and hours” of film study the past 10 days – he just said that as a light-hearted way to set up the rest of his column.

      But then he wrote this halfway through his article:

      One of the continuing problems I see on film is that offenses get overly focused on locating and accounting for Harrison. LeBeau understands this and then burdens the offensive line with a lot of movement before the snap, particularly after the pass protection gets set. That creates confusion in many instances, particularly when Harrison and Woodley line up on the same side. Often, another rusher, such as linebacker James Farrior, is not accounted for and has a free path to the quarterback.

      Okay, maybe he was being serious about watching hours and hours of film to come to his prediction. That said, does anyone find his predicted score interesting? He spent hours and hours of film study to determine that the Steelers will win by seven and that the total combined score between the two teams will be 47? Wonder where we’ve seen those numbers before? Ah, yeah –those are the exact numbers that oddsmakers gave for the point spread and over/under total for the game.

      Come on, Greg. It took you hours and hours of film preparation to come up with the exact same numbers oddsmakers set the lines at? You could do a little better than that.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Super Bowl XLIII Notes 1/30

      January 30, 2009 /

      Ben Roethlisberger– Despite the best efforts of Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin to keep the story under raps, Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger apparently underwent an x-ray on his ribs on Wednesday. Big Ben suffered the injury in the AFC Championship Game, but there is no indication that he’ll miss the Super Bowl. (Rotoworld.com)

      – Hines Ward returned to full practice on Thursday and is on track to start Sunday against the Cardinals. (FanHouse.com)

      – Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Steelers’ defense won’t let Kurt Warner enjoy a fairy-tale ending to his 2008 season. (Los Angeles Times)

      – Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News wrote an excellent piece featuring the top two safeties in this year’s Super Bowl: Adrian Wilson of the Cardinals and Troy Polamalu of the Steelers. (Dallas Morning News)

      – Need picks for the Super Bowl? Head to our partners at Sports Gaming Edge.com for daily picks & previews from some of the best handicappers in the business. They’ll give you top picks throughout the year.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Great Super Bowl Grub

      January 30, 2009 /

      There are three things a great Super Bowl party must have to be effective. One is the game obviously, and if you can get it on a high def big screen – good…for…you. Two, Super Bowl squares is a must to ensure both guy and girl remain interested in the game the entire time because there is no “B Channel” on Super Bowl Sunday. And the third thing is good food, whether it is your standard pizza and wings or if you do something a little special – you’ve got to have good grub.

      Check out these killer Super Bowl Sunday menu items by Mike Farley. And for a sample, below are his directions for slow roasted BBQ ribs.

      Slow Roasted BBQ RibsSlow Roasted BBQ Ribs

      Does the thought of making ribs with homemade BBQ sauce intimidate you? I felt the same way, until I watched Guy Fieri and Tyler Florence do it on the Food Network. The key is patience, because the actual cooking process is pretty simple.

      4 to 6 lbs. babyback pork ribs
      Olive oil
      Kosher salt & pepper

      Sauce
      1 Tbsp. dried thyme
      3 slices bacon
      1/2 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
      1 garlic clove, minced
      14 oz. can tomato sauce
      1 jar chili sauce
      1/2 of a 6 oz. can of tomato paste
      2 jars apricot or peach preserves ( I used Saucy Susan)
      1/4 cup hot pepper jelly (you can omit or add hot sauce instead if you can’t find this stuff)
      1 Tbsp. paprika
      Kosher salt & pepper
      1/4 cup cider or malt vinegar
      2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
      2 Tbsp. molasses

      DIRECTIONS
      Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Brush both sides of ribs with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put on a baking sheet and cover with foil, then place in oven. Meanwhile, in a large soup pot, preferably a nonstick one, heat 2 Tbsp. or so of olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat, then add onion, garlic, thyme, a bit of salt and pepper, and the whole slices of bacon. Sautee for 5 to 7 minutes or until the bacon starts to render its fat. Remove bacon slices (you can chop one up and put it back in if you like). Add remaining sauce ingredients (tomato sauce through molasses), reduce heat to low and cover, keeping on a slow simmer for a few hours. Turn ribs every 30 minutes or so for 2 hours. Then baste with barbecue sauce and turn every 20 minutes, for 2 more hours. Total oven time for ribs should be around 4 hours for maximum tenderness. Remove ribs from oven, and grill over medium-high heat to finish, for about 2 minutes per side (no more than that, or they will burn) to crisp. Slice into 2 to 3-bones-per servings, and serve with barbecue sauce on the side. This recipe will serve about 4 people, so multiply accordingly, depending on how much other food you have.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Sorry Steeler fans, no parade for you

      January 29, 2009 /

      SPORTSbyBROOKS.com shares info that the city of Pittsburgh will not be holding a parade should the Steelers beat the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII this Sunday.

      Ben RoethlisbergerAccording to Pittsburgh’s WPXI CHANNEL 11, the city has decided against another title celebration because of the unanticipated budget overruns it would cause, meaning that the Steel City is choosing to defend public services over jubilant Steelers fans.

      That’s probably a smart move by mayor Luke Ravenstahl, but in the short run it’s a scary one to make. Consider just how mental Steelers fans are about their team. WPXI’s Alan Jennings talked to a number of disappointed Steelers fans about what they felt about the potential lack of a parade, and the open disappointment was about what you’d expect, considering the fact that the team’s 2006 victory parade drew some 250,000 fans to the city’s Golden Triangle neighborhood.

      Then again, and stop us if you think this is going so far, but could Pittsburgh officials be jinxing their team just be discussing celebration plans before the game? Surely this is a golden example of abject hubris, right? It’s understandable that Ravenstahl would want to set expectations low — if he’s not going to have a parade, it’s easier to weather that blow if you consciously start the process of disappointment early — but the very existence of this discussion has to be the ultimate motivator for the Cardinals.

      Either way, having a champion go without a parade seems like a bit of a snowjob to the Steelers, if they were to win. And it begs the question of whether cities may begin to try to pass on the costs of teams’ celebratory needs onto the teams themselves. If this has all been an exercise in Pittsburgh angling to get the Rooney family to pick up the ticker tape check, something tells us it’s not going to work.

      How much would a riot cost the city of Pittsburgh if one broke out after a Steelers’ win and no parade? Just sayin’…

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Super Bowl XLIII Notes 1/29

      January 29, 2009 /

      Hines Ward– Steelers’ wideout Hines Ward did not go through 11-on-11 drives on Wednesday, but he did catch passes and made cuts on his sprained knee. He’s still expected to play on Sunday. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

      – The Cardinals are expected to use rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to shadow Pittsburgh wideout Santonio Holmes. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

      – Speaking of Holmes, he admitted to the press on Wednesday that he used to sell drugs as a teenager, but now hopes to help at-risk teens in the same situation he was in growing up to turn the situation into a positive. (Associated Press)

      – Former Steeler Rod Woodson believes that Kurt Warner and the Cardinals may go straight into their two-minute offense to start the game so that Pittsburgh’s defense can’t get into their blitz-checks right away. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

      – Kurt Warner hopes the young Cardinals can avoid the pitfalls that come with playing in the Super Bowl. (theSpread.com)

      – Need picks for the Super Bowl? Head to our partners at Sports Gaming Edge.com for daily picks & previews from some of the best handicappers in the business. They’ll give you top picks throughout the year.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑