Pittsburgh v Arizona in Tampa

Arizona made the Super Bowl.

Damn.

The Arizona Cardinals … in the Super Bowl.

“We are who we thought we were,” read one of the signs Fox caught during the broadcast. … Well, you aren’t who I thought you were – I’ve been wrong on Arizona three times now during the playoffs.

But I guess that’s what makes the playoffs fun. Edgerrin James was a forgotten man during the last half of the 2008 regular season. Now in the playoffs he’s 52 times for 203 yards and a touchdown. His numbers haven’t been eye-popping, but they’ve helped bring about enough of a rushing game – missing through most of the regular season – that I believe has keyed this run.

The Cardinals, the NFC’s fourth-seed, become the second 9-7 team to make a run to the Super Bowl – the first being the Los Angeles Rams in 1979, who coincidentally gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a solid run before falling 31-19.

The Pittsburgh run to this year’s Super Bowl was less surprising but no less impressive. Second-year coach Mike Tomlin, one of my favorite NFL coaches, took a top-notch defense and made it even better.

He also nursed along what had been a less-than-stellar offensive line and built it into a unit strong enough to protect Ben Roethlisberger enough so he could throw for 255 yards and a touchdown.

My early pick would be Pittsburgh – but I’ve been wrong about Arizona three times in the postseason alone. Might actually turn out to be an interesting matchup.