If the Cards can go into Carolina and win, I think they can take the Super Bowl. But, that's a pretty big if.
The Panthers were undefeated at home this season while the Cardinals had the best record on the road in the NFL at 7-1. Home field advantage doesn't seem to matter as much in this game as it might with some other teams. Remember that the Cardinals went to Seattle and walked all over the Seahawks in their house earlier this year. Yes, the Cardinals did lose miserably to the Seahawks at home in week 17 but that was a game that had no meaning for the Cardinals and where Palmer only played the first half. That doesn't imply the Cardinals will win and only today's game will determine that. What I've seen the experts that pick the Cardinals to win have been saying is that the #3, #4, #5 Cardinals receivers have an advantage over the Panthers secondary that will be covering them. This basically gives the Cardinals a "down-field" advantage for long pass receptions that Palmer is very good at completing. Of course Palmer has to be on his game for this to work out. In the end I really don't know who's going to win which is why the game is going to be great to watch. The #1 team vs the #2 team and either team can win. It's going to be based upon execution more so than anything else because both teams are powerhouses that can win on any given Sunday. I tend to believe that regardless of whether the Panthers or Cardinals win today the winning team will win the Super Bowl. I believe that both of them are far better than either the Patriots or the Broncos.
I thought that the Pats would win, but when the Broncos won I did say that the Broncos would win in the Super Bowl. But I thought the AFC and Super Bowl would be tight games - AFC was, Super Bowl wasn't. So I was half right in both rounds. Oh well.
With only minutes to go Denver was only up by 6-points and it was a very close game. Only a critical turnover in the final minutes resulted in the last Denver touchdown that resulted in the 24-10 victory made it appear loopsided. The game was purely a defensive game by both teams that kept the opposing offenses in check. 14 of Denvers 24 points came from turn-overs inside of the Panther's 20 yard line. We can also note that Caroline had about 250 yards of offense while Denver only had about 150 total yards. Turnovers caused by the defense determined the final outcome and the game was close because of this except for the final couple of minutes where Denver held a two touchdown lead. An awesome game to watch and one of the most memorable in Super Bowl history. It certainly gave a fairy-tale ending to Payton Manning's career assuming he decides to retire because he was lucky to be on a team that carried him to his second Super Bowl title.
I suspect that who have answered to this poll are the ones who know NFL teams even less than me [an Italian who doesn't follow NFL!].
Yup, looks like everyone who voted was wrong. We enjoyed the game, mainly because our team won. We wanted Denver to get it because of Mannings grace and style. Feel bad for Newton though. He got bummed-out early and never got over it.
Newton was understandably disappointed because he was favored to win his first SuperBowl and then lost. His quote, "they just played better" is a good one in view of that circumstance. He's young and very talented, there will be more. I felt good for Manning, who couldn't look for a better end to an extraordinary career.
