Posted by Kevin Jacobs, Sun Staff

The stage is set, the teams are waiting, and the Boss is ready to go at halftime. But will there really be any drama on Sunday?

We made it through Super Bowl Media Day with no major controversies, ignorant sound bites, or guaranteed victories, and now all that’s left of the NFL 2008-2009 season is the game itself. Two weeks ago, almost no one thought the Arizona Cardinals had a chance, yet here they are in Tampa gearing up for Super Bowl XLIII. It’s a true Cinderella story, right? While I was one of the few claiming they had a good shot to take down the Eagles, let me assure you that this week it’s just not in the Cards. They’re about to get decked.

Yes, they have a former Super Bowl MVP who can throw the ball to two different dynamic receivers. But they lack a few key ingredients that are necessary when cooking up a championship team: defense, postseason experience, and an effective running game. Troy Polamalu and the rest of the Steelers’ defense are, without question, the best unit to take the field this postseason. They’ve limited the opposition to 244 total yards per game, and will render the powerful Arizona attack completely one-dimensional.

It will be up to Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor to put the hurt on aging quarterback Kurt Warner and shut down wideout Larry Fitzgerald. If they can achieve that goal, or at least contain the two, Pittsburgh should cruise to victory. The last time the Cardinals made the playoffs was over 10 years ago, in 1998. This year, they have only five players with Super Bowl experience, the most important being Warner. And while Warner’s resume is impressive, it doesn’t make up for the other inexperienced starters — most prominently, rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Rodgers-Cromartie has shut down every receiver he’s been assigned to during the playoffs, including Steve Smith and DeSean Jackson. However, he’s on the grand stage now. Will he be able to lock down Santonio Holmes or Hines Ward when the pressure is on? I just don’t think so.

His one-on-one play is one of the main reasons why the Cardinals have been able to apply so much pressure to opposing quarterbacks, and if he fails their defense will crumble. They will be unable to stop Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore from running rampant, enabling the Steelers to control the clock, and inevitably the game. As usual, the Pittsburg D will render the opposition’s running game useless, with a little help from an ineffective Edgerrin James.

Despite Warner’s best efforts, Arizona’s inexperience will succumb to the vast number of Super Bowl veterans lining up opposite the football on Sunday. My prediction is a relatively boring, 34-17 Pittsburgh victory.

What are your Super Bowl predictions?