SB XLIII: Roman Numeral Numbness

Some random wild and crazy thoughts while wondering what’s the line that the Boss will play Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) at the Super Bowl.

Kurt Warner, whose Cardinals face the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, joins Craig Morton as the only quarterbacks to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl.

Morton was terrible in both his starts, with seven interceptions and less than 200 passing yards total in two games. He lost to the Colts, 16-13, while quarterbacking the Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

Seven years later , Morton threw four interceptions before being replaced by Norris Weese as his former club, Dallas, slashed the Broncos, 27-10, in Super Bowl XII.

Warner fared much better. He threw for 414 yards and two touchdowns and was named MVP in helping the Rams beat the Titans, 23-16, in SB XXXIV.

Two years later the Rams lost to the Patriots, but Warner still passed for 365 yards and scored on a two-yard touchdown run.

Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger resembled Morton more than Warner in his only Super Bowl appearance. Despite a miserable 9-21, two interception performance, Roethlisberger did rush for a touchdown as the Steelers beat the Seahawks, 21-10.

Here are the Super Bowl passing stats for Morton, Warner, and Big Ben:

SB V                      Att.   Comp.    Yds.   TD   Int.
Morton                   26      12          127     1      3

SB XII
Morton                  15        4            39      0       4

SB XXXIV
Warner                  45      24         414     2      0

SB XXXVI
Warner                  44      28         365     1       2

SB XL
Roethlisberger     21        9         123     0       2

Roman Numeral Numbness

Is it me, or are we advancing beyond comprehension through the annual use of Roman Numerals to designate Super Bowls? Do the math. Hey listen, I took four years of Latin in high school, but I got lost around about XXXIX.

Some Super Bowl Factoids That May Interest Only Me:

Only 13 of the previous 42 Super Bowls have been decided by seven points or less.

But lately, there have been some close games. Six of the last 11 games have been decided by a touchdown or less

And in the last seven years, all four Patriots’ Super Bowls, including the 17-14 loss to the Giants last year, were decided by field goals. The Pats won the other three.

The NFC holds a slight lead over the AFC, 22-20, in Super Bowl titles.

The NFC won 13 straight between SB XIX and SBr XXXI; the AFC has won eight of eleven championships since then.

And finally…..

My multi-petaflop supercomputer crunched the numbers and spit out the result: Cardinals 27, Steelers 24… in overtime.