The 620 Sportsline producer Rod Lakin gave a guest column on where the Cardinals are right now.

The Cardinals take a page from Pittsburgh, but can they turn the page on a losing legacy?

Ironic, that at a time of so much change in our country, the eyes of the world will descend on such an improbable Super Bowl match-up. The fitting phrase, for those who continue to miss the distinction, is who could have - not who would have thought the Arizona Cardinals would be competing on the world’s biggest stage. Suffice to say, I could not have comprehended such a notion as soon as three years ago, after watching this bumbling franchise for as long as I have. But things have changed. When exactly those changes took place will be sorted out in the books surely to follow next Sunday’s historical game. The easy answer, and perhaps the laziest one, would be in November of 2000, when the franchise was handed a check to build a new stadium. Nearly six years later, University of Phoenix Stadium was a reality, but a winning football team surely wasn’t.

For me, the initial inkling of a contending Cardinals team wasn’t evident until late, last September. Up until that point, Ken Whisenhunt’s “Steeler brand” of football had been little more than a hopeful promise - one of many that I heard from many Cardinal head coaches over the years. As mission statements go, however, Whisenhunt’s was a bit more appealing. “A physical, tough brand of football,“ seemed a little more grounded in reality then the grandiose podium statements featuring self-professed “winners,” and “sheriffs.” Still, it wasn’t until the Cardinals actually out “Pittsburgh-ed” the Pittsburgh Steelers that I began to believe Whisenhunt was anything more than just another Buddy Ryan or Dennis Green.

For those who have already forgotten, the event I’m referring to was a 21-14 Cardinal win over Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers last September 30th. It was the last time those teams have met, and the first meeting between Whisenhunt and the organization that passed him over. In the time that has passed since, Tomlin’s Steelers have become a consistent Super Bowl contender, a title that has eluded Whisenhunt’s new team until now.

Now, the Cardinals are displaying all the traits that carried them to victory that Sunday: A strong opportunistic defense, with a balanced offense. Arizona will need both again next Sunday against Tomlin’s Steelers, and all indications are that they will. Will a victory be enough to cleanse the Cardinals losing legacy remains the better question, one that can only be answered a few years from now. Who could have envisioned such a premise just a few years ago?