Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
41. 2008 Arizona Cardinals, Super Bowl XLIII
The 2008 Arizona Cardinals won a weak NFC West with a 9-7 record, but they got hot at the right time. The end result was the franchise’s lone trip to the Super Bowl. Arizona, with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and quarterback Kurt Warner, beat the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card round, the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional round, and the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2008 NFC Championship to make it to Super Bowl XLIII.
Arizona would face a team that had many of the same pieces in place that won Super Bowl XL three years previous: the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though Bill Cowher had retired from coaching, head coach Mike Tomlin still had quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, safety Troy Polalmalu, and linebacker James Harrison on his team to more than complete an already solid roster.
Under then head coach Ken Whisenhunt, the Cardinals would enter Super Bowl XLIII as a seven-point underdog to the favorite Steelers. Though this game went down to the wire with Pittsburgh winning Super Bowl XLIII, 27-23, Arizona would end up covering the spread losing by only four points to a superior Steelers team.
This 2008 Cardinals team didn’t have the feel of an NFC Champion during the regular season, but did a marvelous job to almost win the Super Bowl. Arizona had a great season in 2015 playing the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship this season, but just didn’t have the momentum that their 2008 team did.
That Cardinals team was one of the bigger overachievers in modern Super Bowl history. Though they didn’t win the Super Bowl in Tampa in 2009, it’s pretty surprising that they even made it as far as they did.
Next: 40. 1971 Miami Dolphins