Whisenhunt Knows Steelers, but Information Flows Both Ways

When the Steelers defeated the Ravens in the AFC Championship game nearly two weeks ago, Vegas immediately made them seven-point favorites over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

Of course, there is a disconnect between betting lines and reality, and just because gamblers like the Steelers a lot doesn't mean the Cardinals are doomed. In fact, Arizona has developed something of a following since that line was set, if not from fans who've made their way to Tampa, definitely from people who get paid to make such predictions.

Partly because Arizona has been playing out of its mind the last month, but also due to a story line we've had shoved down our throats this week: the Cards have an advantage heading into the big game because their head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, was on the Steelers staff from 2001-2006.

Wideout Hines Ward readily admits that Arizona's offense is a mirror image of what Pittsburgh runs. And Whisenhunt, the Steelers offensive coordinator from '04-'06, has seen more of Dick LeBeau's zone-blitzin' ways than anybody on the planet still not with the organization. And it's those two things that have many media types hyping the Cardinals in an upset Sunday night in Tampa.

I won't argue that Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald are possibly the two best players currently inhabiting the planet, nor will I try to make the case that the Cards' defense has been anything but out-of-nowhere impressive during the postseason. But I'm unwilling to concede that Whisenhunt has any sort of advantage based on his ties to the Steelers organization.

For starters, these two teams met in Arizona in October, 2007. The Cardinals won 21-14. Not because Whisenhunt exploited some weakness in the Steelers' defense, but because Steve Breaston returned a punt for a touchdown. You don't have to have knowledge of the inner workings of the Steelers' organization to know that their special teams have stunk for most of the decade. That was the difference.

Then there are Ward's comments from his Monday press conference. When asked about facing Whisenhunt, he offered this: "It still comes down to the players. You look back at [last year's Steelers-Cardinals] game, they had a huge punt return for a touchdown. That had nothing to do with Whis... It's great that he knows the players, but we know him, too."


And that's the thing: for all the talk about Whisenhunt matching wits with LeBeau everyday for three years and how that could impact tomorrow's outcome, there's also the other side of the argument: LeBeau, who's been in professional football for a half-century, has a good feel for what Whis likes to do in certain situations. He also has the best defense in the galaxy. Which segues nicely into T.J. Houshmandzadeh's mid-week comments.

The Bengals wide receiver pointed out that his '05 team was more high-powered than the '08 Cards. The numbers agree. According to Football Outsiders, the 2005 Bengals' offense ranked sixth in both rushing and passing. The 2008 Cards' O: seventh and 28th, respectively. The '05 Steelers defense ranked second overall (sixth against the pass, first against the run); the '08 unit is first overall (first against the pass, second against the run).

In terms of skill players: the '05 versions of Chad Johnson, Houshmandzadeh and Carson Palmer were all better on a per-play basis than this year's iterations of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Warner. Not by much, but the Steelers beat the Bengals twice in three tries that season. (Yes, I know, one of those get-togethers, the AFC Wild Card, saw Palmer's knee blow up on his first pass attempt. Fair enough, but Cincy still led by 10 points late in the first half before eventually losing.) It's not a guarantee that Pittsburgh will be able to slow Arizona's offense, but it's proof that they're certainly quite capable.

Finally, there's the whole "Did you see what Jon Gruden did to his former team during the 2002 Super Bowl?!" line of thinking. Gruden left Oakland for Tampa following the 2001 season, and promptly led the Bucs the championship game against the Raiders. His new team proceeded to demolish his old one.

At one point in the first half, following a Dexter Jackson interception, John Lynch came to the sidelines, found defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin and announced, somewhat shocked: "Mike, every play they've run we ran in practice ... It's unreal."

Tomlin's response: "I know." And I suspect that exchange has been in the back of his mind the last two weeks.