TAMPA, Fla. -- They were rank. This Arizona Cardinals defense was just foul, open-a-window malodorous for a spell. They so graciously permitted 437 yards and 48 points to Philadelphia on Thanksgiving. Then 396 yards -- two-thirds of that rushing -- and 35 points to Minnesota. Next, 514 yards and 47 points to New England, which led, 38-0, just seconds after halftime.

And, weakside linebacker Karlos Dansby conceded, "It could've gotten worse."

"We had some bad games where we stunk it up," added defensive end Bertrand Berry politely.

A funny thing happened to the overly courteous Cardinals on the way to the playoffs.

Their defense stiffened.

Nobody since has dented Arizona for at least 100 yards rushing, the Cardinals instead allowing a few inches shy of 80 per game.

Nobody scored anything more than a touchdown against them in a second half until Philadelphia, facing the desperation of a 24-6 deficit, rallied for three touchdowns toward the end of an NFC championship game loss.

And, in perhaps the statistic that might well alarm the Steelers (14-4), who confront the Cardinals (12-7) Sunday night in Super Bowl XLIII, nobody has been able to keep this defense from getting its mitts on the football.

"As a captain of the defense, hell yeah, give [credit] to us," Dansby said. "We've done something great. We've changed gears all the way through the playoffs."

In this four-game overdrive, the Cardinals have conjured 15 takeaways, with a dozen coming in their three January playoff victories. They forced three turnovers by Atlanta in the wild-card round, five Jake Delhomme interceptions and a fumble for good measure at Carolina in the divisional playoffs, and three more against Philadelphia.

No, this isn't the same defense as mid-November to mid-December.

"We just had to focus," Dansby said. "We had to dedicate ourselves and sacrifice for the team. We weren't doing it as a team. Guys were doing it here, guys were doing it there. We had to do it together."

"It's attitude," added Antrel Rolle, who switched this year from cornerback to free safety. "It was either win or go home. We grew up as a defense. Everybody is buying into the same thing: improvement."

Taking away the ball and scoring is a habit now. The Cardinals have tallied 37 points off turnovers in the past three postseason games. All season long, though, they have been turnover-conscious. This 12-victory team is 11-0 in games when it wins or breaks even in the turnover category, with 30 takeaways in the regular season and 42 all told.

And beware Ben Roethlisberger: A defense with 13 interceptions in 16 regular-season contests has gathered eight in its past three playoff games.

"Communication, man, communication," Dansby tried to explain. "Everybody expecting the same play. When you do that, you make plays. And we've been making plays, man."

"That's what we are," Berry said. "That's what big defenses have to do. We are a very opportunistic defense. We feel like we're a fast-flowing defense and have a lot of team speed. And when those guys get tired, we change them."

Berry, Darnell Dockett, Bryan Robinson and Antonio Smith rotate along the front line with Travis LaBoy, rookie Calais Campbell, Gabe Watson and rookie Kenny Iwebema. Monty Beisel replaces Pitt's Gerald Hayes at middle linebacker or subs in passing-down packages.

"I think overall our defense has a lot of key pieces," two-time Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson said. "It calls for guys not to do a lot of things, because we can move a lot of guys around and put guys in different spots."

Coach Ken Whisenhunt and defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast have created such a flexible unit that they started seven games with a 3-4 defense rather than their customary 4-3.

One thing about Whisenhunt, too: He should know the Steelers' offense and personnel to a large degree, having coordinated them from 2004-06 and coached them 2001-03.

First-hand knowledge was no small factor for the team that regularly plays at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who used Jon Gruden's Oakland Raiders knowledge to dominate Super Bowl XXXVII.

Yet, Arizona downplays any such talk as failing to account for execution come Sunday, as in: It's up to the players.

"Our guys are confident and are playing really well right now, so I hope they have one more game in them -- and can play better," Pendergast said.

Of the difference between the aromatic four games and the staunch quartet prodding them to this critical juncture, he added, "I think we've been more disruptive. The guys have played very disciplined. We're taking good angles to the football. All those things have helped."

"To get here, we really had to buckle down and get back to the basics at the end of the regular season," Berry said. "We've already made a lot of strides. We still haven't played the perfect game. We are trying to get as close to that as we possibly can for this game."