Surprise, No Surprise

The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl and everyone is SO surprised.

Should we be surprised? Not really. OK, well maybe, but that’s just because it’s the Cardinals. But for the past four years now there has been the one team that has fought on the road and gotten to the Super Bowl. Unless you have some form of Alzheimer’s or have suffered a head injury, these are things you should remember.

In 2006, the same Pittsburgh Steelers that are in this year’s game were the “Cinderella” story. They first beat a Carson Palmer-less Cincinnati Bengals. That didn’t take much. But next on the list were the “unstoppable” Colts. That was the year they began the season 13-0, before losing to San Diego (as I predicted). It was the year Peyton Manning broke Dan Marino’s single season touchdown record. The Colts had everything going for them, except a kicker that could make a fourth quarter field goal. Following that they beat the Broncos, which really didn’t look too difficult either. And then they played Seattle in the Super Bowl. These were the Seahawks that locked up the number one seed in the NFC and were favored to win with MVP Shawn Alexander. Still, the Steelers won and as a Browns fan, I wanted to puke.

In 2007, it was the Colts’ year for redemption. After finally predicting that they would win the Super Bowl the year before, I swore I would never pick them again. Now, this year they started as the three seed, so winning the Super Bowl shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, except for the fact that their defense was notoriously horrible at stopping the run (sound familiar?). They got passed the run-happy Chiefs in the first round and then the suddenly redeemed Jamal Lewis and the Ravens. It was like their defense suddenly remembered how to tackle or something. The biggest shocker was that in the AFC championship they finally beat the New England Patriots, who they had lost to two straight times in the playoffs. Their road block so to speak. When the Super Bowl came, they were up against a number one seed Chicago Bears that was known for its menacing defense and inconsistent offense. It was no surprise that they were able to stop Rex Grossman and help Tony Dungy become the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl.

And then there’s last year and the tale of Eli and the Giants. The biggest shock wasn’t that they got into the playoffs, after their annual late season meltdown. It wasn’t that they defeated their division winner and number one seed in the Cowboys (honestly, Romo is the world’s biggest choke artist, pretty boy) who beat them twice in the regular season. And it wasn't that they beat Brett Favre in the playoffs in Lambeau (he has been more of a liability in the clutch for the past few years). The shocker came when they beat the unbeaten New England Patriots. A team that had broken almost every single season offensive record. The Pats were favored in the spread by 13.5. But a fourth quarter, fourth down pass from Eli Manning to David Tyree eventually led to a touchdown and a win.

So without getting into the details, should we really be shocked that the Cards are now in the Super Bowl? I know they got smashed by the Pats 47-7 only two weeks before the playoffs and that they got murdered by the Eagles by 28 points only a few weeks prior to that. I know they were winless on the east coast. But if there’s a constant theme here it’s that these teams have gotten hot at the right times and that anyone in the playoffs has a chance to win any game.

The Arizona Cardinals are no different. Don’t be surprised if they win because they came into the playoffs 9-7 as the four seed. Only be surprised because… they’re the Arizona Cardinals.