I love the Super Bowl for one reason as much as any: It keeps Roman numerals alive. I had to sit and think for a minute, but I still know what 43 is. In fact, I can write any number up to 3,999 (that would be MMMCMXCIX, I do believe) in Roman numerals. (I don’t know what the letter for 5,000 is! OK, turns out it’s a V with a bar over it, according to this Web site.)

Anyway, we’ve always got that. (And I wonder how many Super Bowls will be played. Will they get to Super Bowl C before the game is banned for being too violent?)

Then there is this year’s game.

This is one of those “sad, but true” concepts.

I would like the Arizona Cardinals to win. They are the Chicago Cubs of the National Football League. Haven’t done anything forever. Maybe not as lovable, but even more inept. They’re a borderline West Coast team, and my preferences almost always skew geographically.

But they just aren’t good enough to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Cardinals have a handful of very fine players. Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin. (And at least one huge bust, Matt Leinart.) Their coach, Ken Whisenhunt, clearly is competent.

But, at end, they just aren’t very good. They went 9-7 in a bad division. In the playoffs there were home against a surprise team with a rookie quarterback (the Falcons with Matt Ryan) and won. Then they got to Charlotte and won against a team that just seemed to seize up with a quarterback (Jake Delhomme, six turnovers) who melted down, once he got behind.

They got another home game, against a supremely erratic Eagles crew that was 9-6-1 in the regular season, led by the supremely erratic Donovan McNabb and coached by a dope, Andy Reid. They took a 24-6 lead at half, blew all of it … but managed to win because the Eagles’ defense isn’t very good.

Pittsburgh will strangle the Cardinals. They will jam Fitzgerald at the line, and hope Anquan Boldin still isn’t quite right (he isn’t), and harass Warner. Edgerrin James will not be a factor.

The Steelers clearly are the better defensive team, probably the best in the league, and they have just enough offense to score a few early points, shifting the pressure of “having to make something happen” to the Cardinals. Which is almost always fatal in the NFL. The Cardinals have been living off that pressure, winning the turnover battle decisively,  and almost by default. “Here, let me throw you this interception because we’re down and we have to make something happen.” The turnover edge: 3-1 against the Falcons, 6-1 (!) against the Panthers, 3-1 vs. the Eagles.

Which has led to the Cardinals scoring 30 points or more in all three playoff games. Sadly, that’s only partly about them. It’s mostly about the other guys self-destructing.

The Steelers will not do that.

I would love to be wrong. The Cardinals in the Super Bowl is an amazing story. The Cardinals winning it would be an epic American pro sports story.

But it won’t happen.

I’ll even give you a final score, two weeks ahead of time.

Steelers 27, Cardinals 10.

And I would love to be wrong.