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’re taking a look at former Steeler assistant Ken Whisenhunt and the role he will play in the game.
First off, props to Whisenhunt. He did a lot for the Steelers and was a great coach during his time here. Nobody would have been upset if he was patrolling the Steelers sidelines now instead of Mike Tomlin.
But Whis ain’t a Steeler anymore. We’ve rooted for him for a while, but that time is over.
The big deal this week has been Whisenhunt’s secret knowledge of the inner workings of the Steelers. Supposedly, Ken Whisenhunt is the one coach in the NFL who knows the Steelers fatal flaw.
We’re not buying that.
1. There’s a thing called film that everybody has access to. Granted, film doesn’t tell all, but if you think people aren’t aware of how the Steelers 3-4 defense works, you’re crazy. They’ve basically been running the same defense for two decades. Teams have tried and tried and rarely been able to solve it.
2. It ain’t 2006 anymore. In case you haven’t noticed, things have changed a bit since Whisenhunt worked with the Steelers. The personnel is a lot different for Pittsburgh…oh, and there’s the fact that the Steelers have a new coach too. This isn’t teacher vs. student. Bill Cowher is gone. Mike Tomlin does things a little differently. Maybe Whisenhunt knows a lot of Bill Cowher’s secrets, but all that’s gonna get him is some real estate estimates in North Carolina.
3. LeBeau > Whisenhunt. If you could pick Ken Whisenhunt’s offense or Dick LeBeau’s defense to win one football game, who would you pick? We’d email this question to a few Cardinals blogs, but they are too busy helping fellow retirees onto the bandwagon.
4. Marvin Lewis. Wasn’t he a former defensive assistant on the Steelers? Mike Mularkey? Wow.
5. Talent. You can talk all day about coaching schemes, but at the end of the day the players have to do their part. There aren’t guys in the NFL with any more talent than Larry Fitzgerald, James Harrison, and Troy Polamalu. Great players can overcome great planning. Again, say give the guys on the Steelers defense and the guys on the Cards offense two full weeks to get the best coaching and then send them out on the field against each other.We’ll take the defense who allowed over 300 yards only once this year, not the offense who dissapeared down the stretch of the regular season and relies so heavilly on one player. Offenses have been keying on how to solve LeBeau’s defense all year and haven’t gotten it done. Why would this game be any different? The Steelers have two full weeks under the tutilige of the greatest defensive coach in NFL history to basically figure out how to stop one guy. We like their chances to play another good game in the Super Bowl.
(Photo credit: East Valley Tribune)
Do you think Ken Whisenhunt gives the Cardinals an advantage in Super Bowl XLIII?
