As Super Bowl XLIII draws closer, we’re going to be diving into the important issues one by one. If you have any topic you want us to cover, give us your suggestions in the Skribit widget to the right. We’ll write about anything. To start off, we took a look at former Steeler assistant Ken Whisenhunt and the role he will play in the game. Next up was Hines Ward’s knee injury. Now we’ll take a look at a star receiver on the other side of the field – Larry Fitzgerald.
What more is there to say about Larry Fitzgerald? The guy has been nuts this postseason. He’s got a touchdown in every game, a catch over 40 yards in each one, and gone over 100 yards every game. That is ridiculous.
(credit: jack nealy)
When you go up against a WR like Fitzgerald, people immediately look toward the defenses number one corner – in this case, Ike Taylor.
One and one, Fitzgerald will kill Taylor. That’s not a knock on Taylor…he has been playing as well as any cornerback in the NFL this season. But we all saw what Fitz did to Asaunte Samuel last week. Plus, WR’s have an inherent advantage over cornerbacks in single coverage. It’s why there are safeties and zone coverages.
So we agree with the obvious. Larry Fitzgerald is a pretty big mismatch favoring the Cardinals.
But we have to draw the line somewhere. There’s been a lot of talk that Fitzgerald can win this Super Bowl himself. We aren’t buying into that.
WR is a tough position for one guy to single handedly win a game because it depends on so many other aspects. There has to be great pass protection, the QB has to find you, and then he has to make a throw. Factor in run after the catch and it’s tough for one guy to carry a team.
Think back to the past few Super Bowls. Everybody is sucking up to Larry Fitzgerald this year and the Cardinals high powered offense. Wasn’t it the same story last year with Randy Moss and New England? Harrison in 2007? TO before that?
Randy Moss had 5 catches for 62 yards last year. Like Fitzgerald, he is uncoverable by most standards. But the Giants pressured Brady and kept the Pats off balance.
The key for the Steelers is pressuring Warner, jamming the receivers, and making solid tackles after the catch.
The Steelers have a very physical secondary and an excellent pass rush. Let’s not forget that the secondary was the most impressive unit over the course of the regular season this year. They were extremely consistent and easily were the most effective secondary unit in the NFL. They did a great job shutting down Moss, TO, and Plax this season. Is Fitzgerald really leaps and bounds better than those guys? We have untrained eyes, but most of the time when Fitzgerald makes a great play, Warner is just throwing the ball up for grabs Flacco-style. Sure, Fitzgerald makes it look good, but that kind of gameplan won’t work against the defense.
There is more than one way to contain Larry Fitzgerald and you can bet Dick LeBeau has been hard at work figuring these things out. If the Steelers defensive unit is as good as the numbers suggest – and everybody seems to think they are – then one player will not be able to beat this team.
“You can’t see me, you can’t see me”
