Best Super Bowl? Come on. The game was a one of the worst played games until the final 10 minutes when the defenses decided they were tired and got burned for a few plays.
Horribly played and horribly coached game. Arizona was too timid in the first half and showed nothing on offense. Pittsburgh was too timid in the second half and showed nothing in defense.
And the refereeing was suspect on both sides. That was not roughing the holder and that was not holding in the endzone. 20 penalties? Yikes.
Yes there was a memorable ending but it doesn't save the rest of the game. Thumbs down.
UMMMM..... when you are grabbing onto a defensive players collar and helmet that is definitely holding.
You must have been watching another player
As for suspect on both sides?
Pittsburgh was pretty much favored in the whole game
(Arizona should have learned from the Seattle game)
It looked pretty clear that his arm wasn't going forward. They could have reviewed it quickly in the booth and not needed to slow the game down to bother telling the ref. They "review" every play but don't need to stop the game to do so.
NO!
His arm clearly sprung back and was released in a throwing motion.
As for the comment i was obviously not being completely serious, i was just kind reminiscing in the game against Seattle when the refs clearly handed the steelers the momentum throughout the second half.
There were a couple of soft penalties on the Arizona defense where they had Pittsburgh in good field position. The roughing the passer was very questionable, and a key part of the drive.
I wasn't saying they had tons, you could just clearly tell penalties towards Pittsburgh had to be very blatant.
What's with the whackjob conspiracy theories when it comes to referees. Referees are imperfect and inconsistent. There is no conspiracy, let alone one that manifests itself three years apart in two games.
Was a very entertaining game. Sucks that the Steelers got that late touchdown. Would've loved to have seen the game go into overtime, wherein the team who won the coin toss wins with a field goal. The controversy would've been wicked.
Another Superbowl handed to the Steelers by the refs ( seattle anyone)
The Steelers played well and they deserve it(unfortunately)
But i definitely think that alot of the cards penalties were soft. And what was up with the fumble call in the 4th??
It was an incomplete pass, i don't see how the booth does not challenge!
Mind boggling
It was reviewed. It has to be by rule.
The reason it was a fumble is because Warner didn't have possession of the ball when his arm moved forward and he ended up pushing it instead of throwing it. Fumble.
As for the soft penalties? Totally disagree except for the running over the holder call which ended up not mattering anyway. The Arizona player was stumbling and couldn't stop himself. That's why I wouldn't have called it. However, the roughing the passer on Dansby was an easy call. He pushed Ben down. There's no issue of stopping momentum there. Clear cut roughing the passer and they will call that 90% of the time.
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Last edited by Displaced Flames fan; 02-02-2009 at 05:19 AM.
What's with the whackjob conspiracy theories when it comes to referees. Referees are imperfect and inconsistent. There is no conspiracy, let alone one that manifests itself three years apart in two games.
Was a very entertaining game. Sucks that the Steelers got that late touchdown. Would've loved to have seen the game go into overtime, wherein the team who won the coin toss wins with a field goal. The controversy would've been wicked.
Hahaha true enough. But the NFL is very lucky, if it had gone to overtime it would have lasted awhile. Bad things only happen to the NHL.
They're thinking of changing to overtime next year to "first team to score 6 wins".
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Something else to piss off Cards fans.
That should have been a 15 yard penalty for using a prop. Cards would have started that last drive on the 40 instead of the 25.
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Last edited by GirlySports; 02-02-2009 at 08:23 AM.
To me, it looked like Santanio Holmes never quite got two feet down. Did anyone else think that? It looked like one foot was sort of caught up on the other one, and remained caught up until his hand came down out of bounds. Still an unbelievable catch.
The last "fumble" was CLEARLY an incomplete pass. I don't even see how that was arguable at all. Warner's hand starts coming forward (with the ball still clearly in his possession), his arm then gets hit, ball travels forward, and hits the ground. How in the world can that be a fumble.
That being said, if the Cardinals had a little more discipline, and weren't outcoached for the breif period to start the game, they likely win this game by a decent margain.
Overall, I can't remember ever seeing a Superbowl that exciting. Clearly, neither team was perfectly executing, and lacked a little bit of discipline, but I can't remember seeing so many "WOW" plays in one game. And I can't remember any game that displayed that football is a game of inches clearer then this game. Rothlisberger stopped inches short on the review, pittsburgh settling for 3. Harrison getting into the zone by inches, and if he had been stopped short the half may have been over with them scoring no points. I was saying to my brother while they were reviewing the Harrison one, that had Harrison been smart, seeing how little time he had, and that he was going to be tackled (perhaps short of the goal line), he probobly should have gone down at the ten or fifteen just to make sure the Steelers got points. Even after the review on that one, I thought that he may not have made it in, but their certainly wasn't any evidence strong enough to overturn it. A mistake by Warner, and all of the Pittsburgh players helping out downfeild blocking in what was definately the key play of the game.
Aslo, seeing how effective the no-huddle was against the Pittsburgh defense, I wish Arizona had gone to it earlier in the game.
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I thought the game was entertaining. Little bummed that I didn't hit my parlay. Rothlisberger throwing an INT, Cardinals winning, Fitzgerald winning the MVP. Looked pretty good there for a moment. Can't hit it rich every year.
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Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed
To me, it looked like Santanio Holmes never quite got two feet down. Did anyone else think that? It looked like one foot was sort of caught up on the other one, and remained caught up until his hand came down out of bounds. Still an unbelievable catch.
I don't think there is any question that he got both feet down. In real time I figured it was out of bounds. On the replay he definitely had both feet down. With HD and the way NBC magnified his toes, it was definitely a catch.
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I don't think there is any question that he got both feet down. In real time I figured it was out of bounds. On the replay he definitely had both feet down. With HD and the way NBC magnified his toes, it was definitely a catch.
Yeah, I was watching in SD on my brothers 21". I knew HD would have given a better look. But, it still looks like his feet were never side by side, one foot looked like it was an inch behind the other, and if that's the case, there was a good chance that the second foot never came down.
Was a queer game IMO. The refs were brutal and stopped Cardinal drives over and over. Meanwhile the Steelers go on it seemed forever without a penalty and then bang the makeup calls started being made.
Cardinals in the first half were just poorly coached and then Warner's gaffe turns into a TD. Super bad luck but off a dumb throw.
Even at the end suddenly the Cardinals are blitzing guys as in the kitchen sink when they were getting pressure with just their front guys or sending one.
I'd rack it up to poor coaching and very questionable refs. Arizona should have attacked offensively from the opening whistle and the refs should have stayed out of the game.
Was a queer game IMO. The refs were brutal and stopped Cardinal drives over and over. Meanwhile the Steelers go on it seemed forever without a penalty and then bang the makeup calls started being made.
Cardinals in the first half were just poorly coached and then Warner's gaffe turns into a TD. Super bad luck but off a dumb throw.
Even at the end suddenly the Cardinals are blitzing guys as in the kitchen sink when they were getting pressure with just their front guys or sending one.
I'd rack it up to poor coaching and very questionable refs. Arizona should have attacked offensively from the opening whistle and the refs should have stayed out of the game.
Yup. I don't know what the Cards were trying to achieve in the first half?
Did they want a 7-7 game at halftime? Arizona needed to win a shootout. They needed to force Pittsburgh to play a 50-40 type game.
Not really a dumb throw but a bad play call. Exactly the same as Oklahoma's INT at the end of their 1st half last month. You're guaranteed 3 points, that ball had to go to the back of the endzone just like the Holmes play at the end of the game. Either your receiver catches it or it's incomplete. These plays that are just short of goal line are suicide.
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Bad play by Warrener, still I thought there was no excuse for the return for a TD. The Cards looked like they were all jogging expecting the last man down field to make the tackle. Great blocking by the Steelers and a heck of a run by Harrison, still the Cards took that play off. Even Fitzgerald, who ended up making the tackle, was jogging untill he realized nobody else was going to stop Harrison. By that time it was too late.
I was rooting for the Cardnals. I shouldn't have been, since they are an NFC West rival, I'm not a Warrener fan and I don't think the Bidwells deserve any success, but I like the way they play, I didn't want to see the Steelers get a 6th, and it is fun to root for the underdog.
I though the reffing was pretty fair. A few calls kind of marginal but all could have gone either was so no issues with that.
Warrener, as an experienced QB, shouldn't have made that throw at the end of the half. He was baited.
I was a bit surprised they waited until the 2nd half to give the ball to Fitzgerald on the medium crossing routes, but I guess when he was being doubled (and tripled) deep, it left a lot of room for Boldin and Breston. Once those 2 started being covered, then Fitzgerald got the ball. So contrary to people who thought it was poor football, I though it was one heck of a chess match out there. The multitude of penalties was the only down side.
That's 2 exciting Superbowls in a row.
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I think a game can be judged by what it took to win. In this case it took an amazing catch by Holmes to seal the deal. It's not like the Cards blew the coverage on that TD, it's just that Holmes made a perfect catch in that situation.
As for the Harrison TD, that was a great defensive play by the Steelers. The play worked out just the way the drew it up, Harrison showed he was going and backed off taking the INT. Then he rumbles 100 yards for the longest play in SB history? That was a great call and subsequent play.
And Fitzgerald will win a SB. Forget TO, Moss, Chad Johnson. This guy is really really good and with the right QB will lead teams to the promised land. He also doesn't seem to have the poor attitude that usually accompanies that type of talent.
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Best Super Bowl? Come on. The game was a one of the worst played games until the final 10 minutes when the defenses decided they were tired and got burned for a few plays.
Horribly played and horribly coached game. Arizona was too timid in the first half and showed nothing on offense. Pittsburgh was too timid in the second half and showed nothing in defense.
And the refereeing was suspect on both sides. That was not roughing the holder and that was not holding in the endzone. 20 penalties? Yikes.
Yes there was a memorable ending but it doesn't save the rest of the game. Thumbs down.
I thought it was great, I enjoyed it from start to finish. And the handfull of memorable plays tops it off for me(Harrison's 100yd slow-mo scamper to end the first half, Fitz' triple coverage TD catch, and then later his exploding through centrefield while he accelerates past the entire Steeler D, and of course Santonio's remarkable catch in the endzone that we'll see for the next 50 years).
I'm not saying its the best game I've ever seen, just the best Super Bowl. Name a Super Bowl from XXV - XLIII(all the ones I've seen) that you feel was better. The only ones that IMO come close are XXXVIII(Pats over Panthers) and last year.
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