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Super Bowl XLIII

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Super Bowl XLIII Logo
Pittsburgh Steelers
(AFC)		 Arizona Cardinals
(NFC)
0 0
DateFebruary 1, 2009
StadiumRaymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
FavoriteSteelers by 7[1]
RefereeTerry McAulay
Ceremonies
National anthemJennifer Hudson, ASL translation by Kristen Santos
Coin tossRoger Craig, John Elway and Lynn Swann
Halftime showBruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersAl Michaels and John Madden
Cost of 30-second commercial$2.4 million - $3 million [2]

Super Bowl XLIII, an American football game that will decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2008 season, is scheduled to be played on February 1, 2009,[3] with kickoff at 6:28 p.m. ET (23:28 UTC), at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

It will feature the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers (14-4) and the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals (12-7) . Of historical note, this game matches up two franchises previously merged into a single team (“Card-Pitt”) for the 1944 season in response to the depleted rosters during World War II. Pittsburgh will be going for its sixth Super Bowl win, which would place it in sole possession of the record for most Super Bowl wins, while the Cardinals are seeking their first league title since 1947 and only the second undisputed league championship in their history. It is the third Super Bowl in history to feature two pre-expansion era (pre-1960) teams, joining Super Bowl XIV (Steelers vs. Los Angeles Rams) and Super Bowl XLI (Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears). It will be also the first time that two quarterbacks who previously started for a Super Bowl winning team (Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger) will oppose one another since Jim Plunkett's Los Angeles Raiders defeated Joe Theisman's Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

Background

Host selection process

File:Ray Jay1.JPG
Raymond James Stadium at night, with the Lombardi Trophy banner for the Super Bowl XLIII replacing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers banner.
Raymond James Stadium with Super Bowl XLIII decorations and colored lights viewed from nearby parking lot roof.
File:Ray Jay3.JPG
Stadium with Lombardi Trophy decoration, and Steelers and Cardinals logos.

Tampa was selected for the game site on May 25, 2005, beating out three other finalists: Atlanta, Houston, and Miami. Super Bowl XLIII will be the second Super Bowl at this venue and the fourth overall in that city.

In February 2008, the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee unveiled the Super Bowl XLIII logo, featuring an abstract representation of a football stadium, with blue and green colors representing the regional waterways and landscapes of Tampa Bay. Eight yards of playing field are shown, alluding to the game's status as the championship of the 2008 NFL season. In a tradition starting with the Super Bowl XL logo, two stars — one red, representing the AFC, and one blue, representing the NFC — are flanked on either side of the Super Bowl XLIII logo.[4] The tagline for Super Bowl XLIII as well as the 2008 NFL season is "Believe In Now".[5]

Teams

The seeds of Super Bowl XLIII can be traced back to the end of the 2006 season. After winning Super Bowl XL in 2005, the Pittsburgh Steelers had dropped to a 8-8 record the following year. At the end of 2006, Bill Cowher ended his 15-year tenure as their head coach, leaving with a 149-90-1 record and a 12-9 record in the playoffs. Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach Russ Grimm were widely considered the front-runners to succeed Cowher in Pittsburgh.[6]

However, without waiting to see if Pittsburgh would hire him, Whisenhunt accepted the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, a team that held the second longest championship drought in U.S. sports (1947, with only the Chicago Cubs last winning their championship in 1908) and had never advanced to the Super Bowl in their franchise history. The Steelers then passed over Grimm and instead hired Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin. Once Tomlin was hired by the Steelers, Grimm joined Whisenhunt in Arizona in the same position as assistant head coach as he had in Pittsburgh.

Arizona Cardinals

Further information: 2008 Arizona Cardinals season

Under Whisenhunt's first season as head coach, the Cardinals finished with an 8-8 record in 2007. Arizona then finished the 2008 season with a 9-7 record and went on to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history, becoming only the second NFL team to do so with seven losses.

One reason for Arizona's success was the re-emergence of 37-year old quarterback Kurt Warner. Warner had started his professional football career as a member of Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League after he was not selected in the NFL draft. After four AFL seasons, he signed on as a backup quarterback with the St. Louis Rams and soon earned a chance to play following a preseason injury to starter Trent Green. Warner ended up taking full advantage of that chance, not only securing a spot as the Rams permanent starter, but also leading them to two Super Bowls and one Super Bowl win (in which Warner was named MVP), while also winning two NFL MVP awards.

However, in 2002, Warner's production was drastically reduced by injuries and he soon lost his starting job to Marc Bulger. He eventually left the team to join the New York Giants, but once again he lost his starting job (beaten out by their #1 draft pick of 2004, future Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning) and signed on with Cardinals in 2005. For the third time, Warner lost his starting job due to mediocre performances and injuries. After the season, Arizona selected Heisman trophy winner Matt Leinart with their first round draft pick. This, combined with another mediocre performance in the 2006 season, appeared to severely limit Warner's chances of ever being a permanent starter on the team. However, early in the 2007 season, Warner was thrust into the starting lineup to replace an injured Leinart, and by the end of the team's season, he had emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the league, throwing 27 touchdown passes with a rating of 89.8.[7]

With his starting job on the team more secure, Warner posted one of his best seasons in 2008, throwing for 4,583 yards and 30 touchdowns, with only 14 interceptions, giving him an NFC best 96.9 rating. His top targets were receivers Larry Fitzgerald (96 receptions, 1,431 yards, 12 touchdowns), Anquan Boldin (89 receptions, 1,038 yards, 11 touchdowns), and Steve Breaston (77 receptions, 1,006 yards, 3 touchdowns, 900 special teams return yards), who made the Cardinals the fifth team ever to feature three players with over 1,000 receiving yards. The Cardinals ground game was led by veteran running back Edgerrin James and rookie Tim Hightower. James led the team with 514 yards, while Hightower rushed for 399 and scored 10 touchdowns. He was also a reliable target out of the backfield, catching 34 passes for another 237 yards. Overall, Arizona's offense ranked fourth in yards per game (365.8) and third in scoring (422 points)

However, their defense had played inconsistent during the regular season, ranking just 28th in points allowed. Up front, their line was anchored by lineman Bertrand Berry, who recorded 5 sacks and forced two fumbles. Linebacker Karlos Dansby was also a solid contributor, recording 4 sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles, while also leading the team in tackles with 119. The Cardinals secondary was led by rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who led the team with 4 interceptions, and pro bowl safety Adrian Wilson (4th on the team in tackles, 75).[8]

Pittsburgh Steelers

Further information: 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season

Under Tomlin's first season as head coach, the Steelers improved to a 10-6 record in 2007. Pittsburgh then finished the 2008 season with the second best record in the AFC at 12-4, making the playoffs for the 6th time in the last eight seasons, and went on to earn their 7th Super Bowl trip in franchise history.

The Steelers excelled on defense, leading the NFL in fewest points (13.9) and yards (237.2) per game allowed, while also ranking second in sacks with 51. Up front, their line was anchored by defensive end Aaron Smith, who recorded 60 tackles and six sacks. Behind him, two of the Steelers starting linebackers ranked among the top ten sack leaders in the NFL, LaMarr Woodley (12 sacks) and pro bowler/NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison (16 sacks). Linebacker James Farrior was also a big contributor, recording 4 sacks and leading the team with 133 tackles. The Steelers secondary was led by pro bowl safety Troy Polamalu, who ranked second in the NFL with a career high seven interceptions.

For the 5th year in a row, the Steelers offense was led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who finished the season with 3,301 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, with 15 interceptions. His top target was the Steelers all-time receiving leader Hines Ward, who recorded his fifth 1,000 yard season with 81 receptions for 1,043 yards and 7 touchdowns. Other reliable receiving options included Santonio Holmes (55 receptions for 821 yards), Nate Washington (40 receptions for 631 yards), and tight end Heath Miller (48 receptions for 514 yards). The Steelers ground game was led by two-time pro bowl running back Willie Parker, who had rushed for over 1,200 yards in each of his last three seasons. Injuries in 2008 limited him to 791 yards in 11 games, but running back Mewelde Moore proved to be a solid replacement, rushing for 588 yards and catching 40 passes for 320. Also, Parker appeared to be fully recovered in the playoffs, as evidenced by his career postseason high 147-yard, 2-touchdown performance in the AFC divisional round.[9]

If the Steelers win, they will have the second-best opponent win percentage for a Super Bowl champion, an indicator of difficulty of schedule, only behind the 1979 Steelers.[10]

Playoffs

Main article: NFL playoffs, 2008-09

Arizona advanced to the Super Bowl by beating the fifth-seeded Atlanta Falcons 30-24, the second-seeded Carolina Panthers, 33-13, and the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles, 32-25. Warner played exceptionally well in those games, throwing for a total of 661 yards and 8 touchdowns, with only 2 interceptions, giving him a rating of 112.1. The Cardinals also got a big performance out of Fitzgerald, who caught 23 passes for a postseason record 419 yards and 5 touchdown. Meanwhile, Arizona's 28th ranked defense made a major improvement in the postseason, forcing 12 turnovers in their three games. This included 5 interceptions and one fumble from Carolina's pro bowl quarterback Jake Delhomme in the divisional round.

Pittsburgh began their Super Bowl run with a 35-24 win over the fourth-seeded San Diego Chargers, gaining 342 yards, avoiding any turnovers, holding the ball for 36:30, and scoring a touchdown in every quarter. They went on to beat the sixth-seeded Baltimore Ravens, 23-14, holding them to 184 yards and forcing five turnovers.

Super Bowl pre-game notes

The AFC Champion Steelers are staying at the InterContinental Tampa and will hold their pre-game practices at the training facility of the University of South Florida Bulls. The NFC Champion Cardinals are based at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay and will hold their practices at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training facility.[11] Both teams arrived in the Tampa area in Monday, January 26.

Also on January 26, the NFL announced that the Super Bowl game will be one of the safest places in the United States during game time. Personnel from over 20 different federal agencies will be on site to help assist in protecting players and fans.[12]

Pittsburgh enters the game as seven-point favorites over Arizona.[1] Major factors for this include the Steelers defense compared to the Cardinals, and the feeling that the AFC is an overall better conference than the NFC.[13]

The Cardinals will be the designated "home team", as is the case for all NFC champions in odd numbered Super Bowls. Arizona has chosen to wear their red jerseys. The team has worn red at home since moving into University of Phoenix Stadium in 2006 after predominantly wearing their white jerseys at home for their first 18 years in Arizona to combat the intense heat of September and October. As a result, the Steelers will wear white jerseys for the second consecutive Super Bowl.[14]

Entering the game, Pittsburgh is 2-0 lifetime wearing white jerseys in the Super Bowl, wearing them as the "visiting team" against the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX (back when the designated "home" team was required to wear their team colored jerseys and not given the option, this changed in Super Bowl XIII, when the Dallas Cowboys opted to wear their traditional home whites, forcing the Steelers to wear black) and against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL despite being the "home team" that season due to the team's road success in the playoffs and the team consistently wearing their black jerseys in home games. In addition, teams wearing white jerseys in the Super Bowl are on a four-game winning streak entering Super Bowl XLIII, dating back to Super Bowl XXXIX, currently the longest such streak between white and team colored jerseys in Super Bowl history.

Broadcasting

Television

United States

The game will be televised live in the United States on NBC, the network's first Super Bowl broadcast since Super Bowl XXXII at the end of the 1997 season,[15] and will be available in 1080i high definition. Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and color commentator John Madden will be in the booth, with Andrea Kremer and Alex Flanagan serving as sideline reporters. The pre-game show – which will be a record five hours long – will be hosted by the Football Night in America team headed by Bob Costas, and preceded by a two-hour special edition of Today hosted by the regular weekday team live from Tampa and the NFL Films-produced Road to the Super Bowl. According to an NBC press release, Matt Millen will also be part of the coverage as a studio analyst.

John Madden will be the first person to have announced a Super Bowl for each of the four major U.S. television networks, having called five Super Bowls for CBS, three for FOX, and two for ABC prior to joining NBC in 2006. Meanwhile, Al Michaels will be the third man to do play-by-play for a Super Bowl on NBC television (following in the footsteps of Curt Gowdy and Dick Enberg).

Super Bowl XLIII will be the final Super Bowl, and one of the final major American sporting events to air in the analog television format in the United States before the nationwide digital television transition scheduled for February 17th.

Commercials

Super Bowl XLIII will also mark the first time that a 30-second commercial time slot will cost (excluding production and talent costs) US $3 million (although some commercials are less)[16]. As of January 28, all but the last two slots were sold. Many traditional advertisers of the game, such as Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi-Cola, are buying multiple ads at discounted rates. Two traditional advertisers, General Motors and FedEx, will pass on the game, citing the current economic crisis as their main reason. Sony are showing a trailer for the PS3 game Killzone 2[17], Doritos is reprising a contest for a fan-created ad run two years ago, but with a top prize of $1 million provided it wins the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter's number one position. A trailer of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will debut during the Super Bowl, according to director Michael Bay.[18] Paramount Pictures confirmed that a preview of the upcoming Star Trek film will also premiere during the game, it is unclear if new footage will be included or if it will just be a recut of the theatrical trailer.[18] However, with the weak economy, NBC could turn to companies already buying ad time for an additional purchase or two as set by the Los Angeles-based Cesario Migliozzi agency, which will have eight advertisers simultaneously in one 30-second ad. Hyundai will also be advertising their new Genesis Coupe in two 30-second commercials.[19]

3D promotions

A series of advertisements will air during the game in 3-D, as part of a promotion with SoBe, DreamWorks Animation, Intel and NBC which will feature a trailer of Monsters vs. Aliens and a SoBe lizards ad titled "Lizard Lake" also shot in 3D, which was announced between games of the NFL Wild Card Saturday doubleheader January 3, 2009. SoBe will be distributing free 3-D viewing glasses for use with the ads at many stores across the nation.[20] The last time NBC did a 3-D promotion was the "Be-Bop-Bamboozled" halftime show for Super Bowl XXIII twenty years earlier.

Other North American broadcasts

  • Canada: English language network CTV will air the game live throughout Canada, simulcasting the NBC broadcast. The French language cable channel RDS will also carry the game, using its own announcers.
  • Mexico: The game will be broadcast on both Televisa and TV Azteca, with both telecasts to be distributed in HDTV,

Outside North America

  • United Kingdom: The game will be broadcast on Sky Sports and on BBC One with programming starting at 22:00 and at 23:00 GMT respectively.[21][22] This will be one of only two NFL games broadcast on the BBC, the other being the international series, presented by Jake Humphrey. Sky Sports' NFL host, Kevin Cadle, will be in the studio with guests throughout the event, while co-presenter Nick Halling will be live in Tampa and will provide analysis live from the event itself.
  • Europe: German television channel ARD Das Erste and Austrian channel ORF will begin live broadcasting from 00.00 CET. Swedish television channel TV6 will begin live broadcasting from 00:00 CET. Italian public television network RAI will broadcast live on Rai Due and Rai Sport Più in Italy. The digital transmission will be in 16:9 and HD (where available) [23] . TV3 will broadcast in Denmark, and SportTV in Portugal will broadcast the game in standard (4:3) and high-definition (16:9) formats. ESPN America will also broadcast in Europe.

Radio

On radio, Westwood One has the national broadcast rights to the game in the United States and Canada. It is only made available to local affiliates as part of a 57-game package of regular season and post-season games. Stations are not allowed to stream the broadcast on their web sites.[24]

Sirius XM Radio will carry 13 game feeds in ten languages to Sirius subscribers, as well as to XM subscribers with the "Best of Sirius" package.[25] The following feeds will be offered, with the announcing teams and flagship stations for the competing teams listed:

In addition to those feeds, these feeds will also be available as well as the international broadcasters listed which will carry the game:

FieldPass, the subscription Internet radio service provided by the league at NFL.com, will carry most of these feeds, with select international feeds for free. Due to contractual restrictions, only WDVE, WBGG, KTAR-AM and FM, Sirius XM, and FieldPass will be permitted to carry the teams' local broadcasts, with the teams' network affiliates instead carrying the Westwood One feed.

Entertainment and other ceremonies

Journey will perform during the pre-game show, and Jennifer Hudson will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in her first public appearance since the murder of her nephew, brother and mother.[26] Hudson becomes the second consecutive alumna from the American Idol television series to perform the national anthem at a Super Bowl (Jordin Sparks sang the anthem at Super Bowl XLII). The national anthem will be translated into American Sign Language by Kristen Santos.[27].John Legend and Faith Hill will also perform prior to the game.

The NFL will salute four decades of champions during the coin toss ceremony and the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation. The coin toss will feature Roger Craig (Super Bowl XXIII, 1989), John Elway (Super Bowl XXXIII, 1999) and Lynn Swann (Super Bowl XIII, 1979). Roger Craig follows last year's participants and fellow San Francisco 49ers Craig Walsh (son of Bill Walsh), Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice and Steve Young. Joe Namath (Super Bowl III, 1969) will participate in the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation and he previously participated in the coin toss in Super Bowl XXVIII.

The Super Bowl XLIII halftime show, sponsored by Bridgestone, will feature Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. [28] [29]

Officials

The officials for the game are:[30]

  • Referee: Terry McAulay, #77; second Super Bowl, refereed Super Bowl XXXIX.
  • Umpire: Roy Ellison #81
  • Head Linesman: Derick Bowers #74
  • Line Judge: Mark Perlman #9
  • Field Judge: Greg Gautreaux #80
  • Side Judge: Michael Banks #72
  • Back Judge: Keith Ferguson #61
  • Alternate Officials
    • Referee: Ron Winter, #14
    • Umpire: Darrell Jenkins #76
    • Line Judge: Darryll Lewis #130
    • Field Judge: Doug Rosenbaum #67
    • Back Judge: Billy Smith #2
  • Replay Official:
  • Video Operator:

Game time and weather conditions

  • Kickoff at 6:20 p.m. EST

References

  1. ^ a b Point-Spreads.com - Current Super Bowl XLIII Odds
  2. ^ CNBC Commericals
  3. ^ "NFL.com: Future Super Bowl sites". National Football League. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  4. ^ "NFL UNVEILS OFFICIAL SUPER BOWL XLIII GAME LOGO". Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  5. ^ NFL’s platform for this season: ‘Believe In Now’
  6. ^ "Cowher: Tomlin hiring by Steelers not a total surprise". ESPN.com. 2007-02-15. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  7. ^ http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story?id=09000d5d80e334ba&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
  8. ^ http://www.nfl.com/teams/arizonacardinals/statistics?team=ARI
  9. ^ http://www.nfl.com/teams/pittsburghsteelers/statistics?season=2008&team=PIT&seasonType=REG
  10. ^ Sunday NFL Countdown, January 25, 2009
  11. ^ "Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee - Media FAQs". 2009-01-25.
  12. ^ NFL: Super Bowl stadium will be one of safest places in U.S.
  13. ^ Vegas gives Steelers early nod over Cards for Super Bowl XLIII
  14. ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01\21\2009 Steelers Notebook: Ward will battle big odds, try to play
  15. ^ http://www.cnbc.com/id/28898650/site/14081545/for/cnbc/
  16. ^ CNBC Commercials
  17. ^ http://www.ps3blog.eu.com/news/sony-show-killzone-superbowl-add/
  18. ^ a b Wallace, Lewis (2009-01-09). "Super Bowl to Get Healthy Dose of Sci-Fi Flicks". Wired. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  19. ^ "Hyundai to introduce Genesis coupe during Super Bowl XLIII". Left Lane News. 2008-12-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ http://www.monstersvsailens.com/
  21. ^ "Sky Sports - NFL - On Sky TV". Sky Sports. 2009-01-20. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  22. ^ "BBC Sport - Other Sport... - American Football - American Football on the BBC". BBC. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  23. ^ "GRANDE ATTESA NEGLI USA PER IL XLIII SUPER BOWL". RAI. 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2009-01-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |langauge= ignored (|language= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ http://affiliates.westwoodone.com/content/technical-clocks/sports/Super%20Bowl%20Format.pdf
  25. ^ SIRIUS XM Radio Announces Comprehensive Broadcast Coverage for Super Bowl XLIII
  26. ^ "Jennifer Hudson to sing at the Super Bowl". MSNBC. 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  27. ^ "Singing Her Song with Her Fingers". Sacramento Union. 2009-01-28. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  28. ^ "Report: "The Boss" to play Super Bowl halftime show". Seattle Post Intelligencer. 2008-08-11. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  29. ^ "Bruce Springsteen to play Super Bowl half-time show". NME. 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  30. ^ "Superbowl XLIII referee crew announced by NFL". NME. 2009-01-28. Retrieved 2009-01-28.

External links

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