Jim Wexell understands the Steelers — and the people that follow the AFC champion — as well as anyone. Wexell, PFW's Steelers correspondent and author of the recently published book "Steeler Nation: A Pittsburgh Team, An American Phenomenon," sent in the following when I asked him for his take on the "pulse" of Pittsburgh fans as Super Bowl XLIII nears:

"The pulse of the fan? Funny, but I think this Super Bowl game is eerily similar to the one following the 1979 season. Then, the average fan called that game a certain blowout, too, but the astute fan was wary. In fact, the Chief, Art Rooney, was very nervous about facing the Rams that year. The Steelers were 12-4 and the Rams were 9-7, but they had beaten the Steelers the previous year and had three coaches on Ray Malavasi's staff who'd recently coached with the Steelers. (There are several more similarities to the 9-7 Cardinals, the playoff route the Steelers took, and the halftime Coke commercial, but I'll keep it short here).

"Rams DC Bud Carson's game plan had stymied the Steelers in 1978, as it did again through three quarters of the '79 Super Bowl. But the Steelers' class took over in the fourth and they scored two touchdowns after brilliant John Stallworth catches. One of those touchdowns was set up by deep-dropping MLB Jack Lambert's interception, which sealed the game. The Steelers went on to cover the 11-point spread to satisfy even the "average fan" who'd figured on an easy win.

"Well, it wasn't that easy, and I expect the same in this Super Bowl. I — and most of us "astute" observers — figure the Cards will give the Steelers all kinds of trouble for three quarters, but that the Steelers' class will surface in the fourth. Since Ben Roethlisberger has been a dominant fourth-quarter player all year, why would anything change here? The Steelers also has a deep-dropping MLB in James Farrior, so I'll predict that he'll do what Lambert had done and make the key defensive play late in the game.

"Prediction: Steelers 31, Cardinals 19."