Chemistry, perhaps that’s the key to winning a Super Bowl.

Or is it defense? A hot shot quarterback with reliable receivers? The wildcat? Those are just some of the questions NFL teams are trying to answer as they prepare for the 2010 NFL football season in a few months.

That’s probably why some of these teams are signing names here and there to get that perfect combination they are hoping will win them the Super Bowl. The Arizona Cardinals, for instance, have scheduled a visit with Chargers quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, a restricted free agent, as they explore adding depth as well as potential competition for Matt Leinart for that QB spot.

If the Cardinals sign Whitehurst and the Chargers decline to match the offer, Arizona would owe San Diego a third-round draft pick, which is the qualifying contract tender that was used on the quarterback, who was a third-round choice in 2006. That tender is worth $1,176,000 for the 2010 season.

The Cardinals have two third-round draft choices next month, having acquired Baltimore’s third- and fourth-round picks in a deal that sent wide receiver Anquan Boldin to the Ravens.

Leinart is the only quarterback currently under contract on the Cardinals’ roster.

On the other hand, New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says the club has agreed to re-sign reserve defensive back Leigh Torrence to a one-year contract.

Torrence has been with the Saints since being claimed off waivers in…

Can the Saints get back to form in time for the visiting Cardinals?

The New Orleans Saints missed out on perfection when they lost to the then struggling Dallas Cowboys. Then shockingly, they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers too in a game the Saints could’ve won if it wasn’t for Saints kicker Garrett Hartley missing a very makeable 37-yard field goal attempt.

But after they lost for the third straight time, this time losing to the Carolina Panthers big, 23-10, it’s clear that the Saints have a lot of fixing to do coming to their first game in the 2010 NFL playoffs against the red-hot Arizona Cardinals.

Heck, after watching the Arizona Cardinals put up 51 points to beat the Green Bay Packers last week, it’s clear that the Cardinals are clicking at just the right time.

Thanks to their ageless leader Kurt Warner who have put up a whopping five touchdowns in their 51-45 win over the Packers in overtime, the Cardinals qualified for this NFC divisional playoff game against New Orleans. And with the way the Saints have been playing lately, it seems everything has been set to motion for Arizona to defend that NFC title in the NFC championship game.

The Saints need to have a great game from Drew Brees if they want to deny the Cardinals a return trip to the NFC title game. He led the NFC in completion this year with 70.6 markers, 292.5 passing yards per game and a 109.6 passer rating. However, in their three-game losing streak to finish the season, Brees only had a couple of touchdowns and an interception, a far cry from the numbers he has been putting up early in the season.

If the Saints want to advance to the NFC championship game…

Another chance.

That’s exactly what the Arizona Cardinals have been having lately this 2009 NFL football season after coming out of the gate stumbling.

And since the Arizona Cardinals started their campaign this year with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers back in Week 1, they will probably make the most out of this second chance they have against the Niners this Monday night in San Francisco.

The last time the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers met, the Niners handed the NFC defending champions a 20-16 loss right in front of their fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona to kick off the season.

However, don’t expect the same thing to happen this Monday night. Because unlike the season opener, the Cardinals now have a healthy corps of receivers, they finally got the running game going and the offensive line is finally protecting Kurt Warner.

That’s a good thing too since we all know that Warner is the key in the Cardinals’ success. Warner has become one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league at this point of the season. He turned in a passer rating of more than 120.0 in each of their past four games and Arizona’s two receivers; Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, couldn’t be any happier.

The only other guy to do it is Johnny Unitas and on…

Since NFL teams have done a better job handling their salary cap compared to some NBA teams, we can almost expect a busy offseason.

Yes, it looks like NFL teams are making some drastic changes in preparation for the 2009 NFL football season. And while trades in the NFL before were less likely to happen than Rex Grossman scoring a touchdown, such is no longer the case because of the ridiculous cap room these NFL teams have these days.

Eleven teams have more than $20 million of salary cap room. Heck, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers even have more than $40 million available for chrissake.

And judging by the number of trades we’ve seen the last few weeks, it’s evident that these teams are willing to spend as long as they land that one last piece for a trip to Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

As of press time, we already saw eight players move. Some of which include Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel being moved by the Patriots to Kansas City, Kellen Winslow was finally traded by the Cleveland Browns to Tampa, Anthony Henry was traded by the Cowboys to…

I guess the better question here would have to be, which team will you be putting all your money on?

Because Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida is ON this Sunday when the two remaining teams in the National Football League, that’s the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals, play for arguably the biggest prize in all of sports.

Dubbed as Super Bowl Sunday, plenty of sports pundits and gamblers have started making their picks for the big game and it’s understandable that many are picking the Pittsburgh Steelers to win it all.

The Steelers started this season’s Super Bowl betting activities listed as -6.5 favorites, God knows how much will this team be favored to beat the Arizona Cardinals come game time.

How come majority of the male population favor Pittsburgh? Easy. The Steelers have been in the playoffs six times this decade, and won Super Bowl XL four years ago with Ben Roethlisberger coming off from an impressive rookie year then. The Steelers ended this year’s regular season campaign with an impressive 12-4 record, while the Cardinals limped into…

Expect online sportsbooks to milk on this statistical face-off before this Sunday’s big game.

Yes, Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida is merely a few days away and online sportsbooks have begun milking on every possibly angle their customers are more than willing to bet on.

One of which is the wideout position. Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals have two amazing wide receivers who can dictate the tempo of the game. It is a known fact that wide receivers are the home run hitters of a football team and online sportsbooks like SportsBetting.com has posted odds on how good will these guys do this Sunday in Tampa.

So who are these receivers? We have Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes for the Pittsburgh Steelers while the Arizona Cardinals have the combination of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. How good will each guy be come Sunday? Read on.

First we have Hines Ward of Pittsburgh. He had one of his better seasons of his career, leading the team with 81 catches for 1,043 yards and seven TDs. The last time he had that much was at the end of the 2004 season, when he hauled in 1,000. Ward was the MVP of Super Bowl XL, when he had five catches for 123 yards and…

This is just one of the stuff you can bet on prior to Super Bowl Sunday.

It’s finally here, Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida, and sports bettors all around the world are clamoring right now for some more clues on which team to put their money on before the Steelers and the Cardinals celebrate the 43rd anniversary of this American spectacle.

And while some of you wonder if your favorite player can take home the Super Bowl XLIII MVP trophy, some still are contemplating on stuff like coin tosses, how long will the national anthem be or how good will Kurt Warner be compared to Ben Roethlisberger.

Let’s start with probably the most basic betting prop, that one about what will the first score of the game be. The odds for the first score (touchdown or field goal) on this year’s Super Bowl are extremely off-base. One would expect the two sides to be relatively close but the touchdown is favored by a huge margin at -180. If one chooses a field goal, he would lay $100 to win $150.

Given the fact that a field goal has been the game’s first score in six of the last 10 contests, one would have expected the odds to be reversed. Additionally, since Arizona Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers and Jeff Reed of the Pittsburgh Steelers combined to hit 16-of-20 field goals this…

Player behavior. Wow, now that’s new.

As you all know by now, (unless you could care less about sports…) Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida is coming and online sportsbook from every corner of the hemisphere is ready for it. Yes, that means they’re just salivating for your hard earned cash.

The Arizona Cardinals are entering American football’s biggest stage for the first time in the history of their franchise. The Cardinals were once dubbed as the second worst franchise in sports, next only to the Chicago Cubs. But since the Cardinals have already broken their curse, so to speak, the Cubs are now the only franchise to hold that distinction.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, are going for their second Super Bowl title in four years. The last time these guys got to the Super Bowl, it was Super Bowl XL when, with Bill Cowher in the sidelines, Pittsburgh beat the Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.

What’s interesting here is, other than Cowher, almost the entire coaching staff of the Steelers then now reside in Arizona, coaching the Cardinals this year all the way to Super Bowl XLIII. This year’s version of the Steelers will be seeing familiar faces from the Cardinals sidelines and it should be interesting to see how each performs.

And aside from these very interesting storylines…

Just what the Cardinals needed?

Apparently, being the ultimate underdogs is not enough for the Cardinals coming to their face-off with the Steelers at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida. It looks like those guys developed some kind of dissension within the team and now, their focus for the biggest game of their franchise is in question.

Who’s causing all the fuss within the Arizona Cardinals? Anquan Boldin. Despite becoming a monster in fantasy football this season, he is getting less touches as of late and understandably, he doesn’t like it one bit.

In nine of the final 14 plays the Cardinals used against the Eagles in the NFC championship game, Anquan Boldin wasn’t even a target. Even though they got the 32-25 win over Philly to earn one of two Super Bowl XLIII tickets, he wasn’t in a jovial mood after the game.

”I was not given any explanation why I was taken out,” Anquan Boldin said. He was seen arguing with Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley in the Arizona sideline during the NFC championship game and when asked what led to the sideline confrontation he simply said, ”like any competitor I wanted to know why.”

Of course, he was asked if he has any problems with their offensive coordinator…

For the Cardinals to beat the Panthers at home is a tall order. Luckily, Arizona has the tendency for shocking everybody this season.

The 2009 NFL playoffs continue in the NFC as the Arizona Cardinals will look to accomplish something that everybody failed to do all year, beat the Panthers in Carolina.

Yes, the Carolina Panthers, undefeated at home this season, will look to improve to 9-0 at the Bank of America Stadium by beating the Cardinals in Charlotte for the second time in this campaign.

The Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals square off Saturday night for the chance to advance to the NFC championship game and face the winner of the Eagles – Giants face-off.

Carolina tied for the best regular-season record in the NFC at 12-4, thanks in large part to its first undefeated record at home since 1996. The Panthers won all of their eight games at the Bank of America Stadium by an average of 15.4 points.

The Arizona Cardinals, meanwhile, went 0-5 in the East, losing to Washington, the New York Jets, Carolina, Philadelphia and New England by an average of 20.0 points. They are 2-20 in their last 22 games in the Eastern time zone. And since Charlotte, North Carolina IS from the Eastern time zone…