Just got off the phone with Ira Miller who's in Tampa covering the Super Bowl. He picked a winner but before he got to that I asked how he thinks the Raiders and Niners are doing in their various coaching searches and here's what he said:

They're both in good shape because I keep reading the unemployment numbers are up and that increases their pool of candidates.

What's your feeling on the Raiders' search for a head coach?

My feeling is the same as it has been. It doesn't matter. Whatever poor sucker gets the job, Al's lips will be moving and the words will come out of this guy's mouth.

What about the Niners' search for an offensive coordinator?

It's become farcical now. The organization is in such bad shape. If Dan Reeves had taken the job he would have been so far above everyone else in the organization in terms of football knowledge and knowing the NFL. They don't deserve somebody like that.

Does it matter who they get?

Yeah. He might turn out to be serviceable. The issue is they gave Mike Singletary a contract without knowing what his staff would be. We come back to what was the hurry? Knowing the 49ers, maybe they're holding off because they don't want to pay a guy when they're not playing games. Maybe they want to hold off until the first week of the season to hire a guy.

Characterize the upcoming Super Bowl.

It will be a higher-scoring game than people think because of Arizona's offense and Arizona's defense. The Cardinals will be able to move ball on the Steelers.

Why?

We know how great the Pittsburgh defense is. It's a great defense. However, the other three teams in their division  ranked in the bottom five in the league in passing. Two of the other teams they played ranked in the bottom ten. That means they played eight of 16 games against the league's ten worst passing teams. Remember when Warner and the Rams got upset by the Patriots? One of the reasons I picked the Patriots to win was I thought the Rams would have trouble with New England's 3-4 defense and they did.

Why?

It's something different from what they normally see. This year Arizona played six games against the 3-4 defense and all those teams ranked in the top-half of the league in defense and Arizona won four of those six. They're prepared. Conversely, I don't think the Arizona defense is as good as it looked the last few weeks. And Roethlisberger because of his experience in the Super Bowl three years ago is prepared now - it was one of the worst performances by a winning quarterback in the Super Bowl.

Does Pittsburgh have an edge because it was in the Super Bowl three years ago?

It does but we begin see the edge is not what it used to be. And Warner and Whisenhunt have been through it and have been able to prepare the team. The two biggest upsets in recent years were when New England beat St. Louis after 2001 and Denver beat Green Bay after 1997. Those teams both were two touchdown underdogs and hadn't been in the Super Bowl in a long time and were playing teams that had been more recently. That edge does not seem as strong used be.

Who will win on Sunday?

I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say. I'm picking Arizona. The Super Bowl winner is usually the team with the better quarterback and the better defense. Most years it's the same team. That's not the case this year because it's Warner and the Pittsburgh defense. I don't think the Steelers can cover Warner's receivers. He gets rid of the ball fast enough that the Steelers won't get to him very much even with all their blitzes. I see the game in the high 20's, low 30's for each team. It will be a close game. It has the potential to be one of the best Super Bowls of all time. It's a great quarterback going against a great defense.