That was just entirely too close for comfort. I am sure in years to come people will call it a “great’ game, but it was stressful as hell. Gotta hand it to the Cards, they played tough and I thought they had won it. I didn’t trash talk them this week because I thought they were better than most people thought, and after my antics earlier this post-season, I didn’t want to go overboard.
Unbelievable.
What a roller coaster. I won’t sleep tonight.
*** Update ***
And Chris Collinsworth, you can SUCK. ON. THIS.
amorphous
wait, was there a professional tackle football game played this evening?
burnspbesq
@amorphous:
Yes, there was. And by all accounts, quite a good one.
Laura W
Your restraint and even-tempered mood this week were admirable. And shocking.
Too bad there’s nothing left to clean at your place. Advil PM, John.
Enjoy it, but beware the postpartum blues.
Glenn Fayard
First three quarters – shit with urine sauce.
Last quarter – some good catches (and still stupid penaties and no defense).
The usual Super Bowl; watch for the commercials.
Conservatively Liberal
Excellent game with the last tippy-toed touchdown being the icing on the cake. Cards played as expected, excellent. They deserved to be there and gave the Steelers a run for their money. Great game!
The commercials sucked eggs. Ok, the LMAO Clinic was kind of funny, but that is it.
Glenn Fayard
Well, that’s a good point about the ads. I didn’t mind the MacGyver knockoff though.
bayville
That quarterback for the Pittsburgh team is pretty good.
But then again, I’m not a football expert like some of those TV guys.
Chief
Great game, but there is no damn way that Springsteen’s halftime show was better than Prince’s incredible performance in the rain during Colts-Bears. Prince effectively set the modern standard two years ago.
Comrade Desert Hussein Rat
@Conservatively Liberal:
Actually, I rather enjoyed the Coke Zero parody of the old Joe Greene and the kid commercial from the 1970’s. It was the only one that elicited a LOL moment from me.
Of course, both of my sons thought I was losing it for laughing at that one, since they never saw the original.
Cathy W
Alas, I only got to watch the first half – I take it the ending of the game was a nail-biter? But wow, did the first half end on a fantastic note. That run was actually worth all the replays…
Congrats to the Steelers.
Glenn Fayard
Actually, I think maybe the best part was how they looked to have actual lighters at the Springsteen concert.
SGEW
So who won?
passerby
Good job controlling the beast John and Cheers.
Football is my main game (tennis 2nd) and this was a great game. The Cinderella team brought it but the Steelers O line came to play. It was a great game.
Vicariously yours,
passerby
p.s. Santonio Holmes? A great 1st round pick. Prediction: if the Stillers make it to the next SB, Holmes is MVP.
Laura W
@Conservatively Liberal:
I am so with you here. I admit to not watching many at all with full attention, but still, they sucked in all kinds of ways.
The suckiest sucking sucker was the job search site one. Where they repeated every irritating line/character over and over for 8 sequences? I almost pulled my eyelashes out one-by-one, real fast. That sort of repetition dances on my last nerve on my best days. That was truly some sort of torture method. I did not handle that well at all. I am mad just reliving it now. I feel violated.
I need to go sleep now.
maxbaer (not the original)
Thank you, Steelers, for making John a happy man. Otherwise, he’d be hell to live with for the next week or two.
Congrats Steelers and John. Good game, Cards.
Freemark
I love the Steelers but I believe they may have taken 10 years off my life. I will have to replay the last 10 min on the DVR now that I can enjoy it.
.
I work in a call center and may not be able to talk to anyone tomorrow. But my neighbors sure heard me today.
John Cole
I don’t remember one commercial. I was either pacing, making sure Tunch was happy (somehow I got it into my head during the last Super Bowl we won that if he is unhappy during the game it is bad luck, since he is named after a Steeler), or doing breathing exercises.
Laura W
@John Cole: Not one was memorable.
Period.
Did you find the movies?
passerby
@John Cole:
Bullshit. You do that (making sure Tunch is happy) anyway.
[You probably sleep in a frog-leg mode to accommodate him if he wants to sleep there, even if it makes your back sore. Sucker.]
Roza Hussein
We are partying on the South Side
it was great but way to stressful
…whoo hooo
Jay Severin Has A Small Pens
I was rooting for the steelers…but
I must say that…
The Cardinals were dumb with their penalties….but only matched by the dirtiest idiotic penalties of the Steelers.
Damn lucky they won.
Frank
I remember the GoDaddy commercial. I am aware of all internet traditions.
But what happened to Super Bowl traditions? Like the one that the game is over in the first half.
excathedra88
Dear Mr. Cole,
c’mon man, that was a great game, running into overtime is the only way it could have been greater; both teams gave their best, and the Steelers just proved to be a wee bit better. The commercials featured too many Clydesdales for my tastes.
demimondian
@Frank: FDDD, who is not fully aware of all internet traditions, watch the GoDaddy commercial with mounting horror. She turned to me afterwords and said "that was either a poor joke, or incredibly sexist." I said "yes." She didn’t laugh.
Feminists have no sense of humor.
ed
Wha’d Collinsworth do to piss you off, J-Col?
khead
Nothing says "not going overboard" more than a good Suck. On. This. Of course, it’s also being directed at Chris Collinsworth so it is understandable.
Best commercial was the Doritos Crystal Ball or the Career Builder Ad. You just cannot go wrong by punching a talking koala.
tomjones
Go Joe.
Phoenix Woman
That. Was. Fabulous.
Wow, so Tunchie’s named for a Steeler kicker? Cool!
Andy K
Tunch Ilkin was an offensive lineman. He’s a pretty good color commentator on the Steelers’ radio broadcast.
southpaw
Not for nothing, but Warner’s arm was coming forward.
donovong
Congrats, John.
Next year – Falcons, baby!
CT
So does everyone think that fumble at the end by Warner was absolutely a fumble? I wish they would have taken a longer look at it-I thought Warner got his arm going forward before losing control of the ball. I had no dog in the hunt-I just wanted to see a Hail Mary into the end zone on the last play of the Super Bowl, Fitzgerald against the Steelers secondary for all the marbles.
The Other Steve
Godaddy commercials actually make me want to stop using godaddy.
That and the fact that Bob Parsons is a fucktard.
Phoenix Woman
@Andy K:
Just found his Wikipedia entry — he sounds like a pretty neat guy.
I’d been wondering how Tunch the cat got his name. It sounded like a name that Dr. Johnson would have given his cat, if he hadn’t already settled on Hodge.
Adrienne
@Chief: I fully co-sign on that one.
@ed: He picked the Cards to beat the Steelers. That was EPIC fail all around – and a cardinal sin ’round these parts.
Hehe. I just made funny.
firebrand
Is this Steelers kicker Tunch is named after fat too? Because Tunch is one fat cat.
Adrienne
I do because the tackle had his hands on him and Warner was about to go down before he tried to make the throw. Warner felt the tackle on him, knew he was going down, and tried to make it seem like he was in the middle of a throw to avoid the sack. It’s an old trick.
John Cole
Chris Collinsworth is a whiny ass former Bengal who uses every opportunity to hate on the Steelers. Listening to him for ten years of Inside the NFL was horrible. His perfidy is not just his pick tonight, it is that he is actively rooting against the Steelers at every chance.
F- him.
Notorious P.A.T.
Congratulations John C. And congrats to the Cardinals, for showing the world that a sorry-ass football team can turn it around fast. Unless you’re the Lions, in which case you fire only one of the top three people responsible for the first 0-16 season in history. Hey, let’s not get drastic here!
Oh and screw the commercials. I didn’t watch one. I don’t like commercials, I don’t like the commercialization of American culture. People who watch the Super Bowl for f**king commercials should have to be surrounded by marketers for the rest of their lives.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
It was an exciting game that literally came down to the last minute. It would have been a great regular-season game, but it was an incredible Super Bowl.
Also, The Jason Statham/"Transporter"/Audi commercial was fun, too.
Adrienne
I’m sorry, but American culture isn’t becoming commercialized, it was born of commercialization. American culture is and has always been defined by commercialization. Period. You can’t separate the two because they are one and the same.
Andy K
@Phoenix Woman
I understated his performance in the booth- he’s great. Not Max McGee great, but only because no one but Sonny Jurgensen has been able to bring the slightly-buzzed-favorite-funny-uncle feel to the booth like Max. But Tunch offers good analysis, and he’s very affable…and he doesn’t stretch to make a joke.
(And for the worst ever, I offer up Dick Butkus’ short time in the booth for the Bears- proof that there are things other than a single loss to the Dolphins can mar the memories of a great season.)
Prof. K&G
I was totally expecting the Cardinals to embarrass themselves, but holy cow. They can hold their heads up tomorrow, even if they didn’t win it all. The only person who needs to feel bad about themselves is that asshat Steeler, punching the Cardinal lying on the ground late in the 4th. Can they take away the win just from that one guy? So, i.e., all the other Steelers have won a superbowl, but that asshole didn’t.
Liked the hulu commercial, chuckled at the coke zero one; everything else hewing too close to the "kraaazzzz-ey super bowl comercial" formula.
Andy K
Congrats, John. I’m glad my prediction of a Cards win was, uhm, dead-nuts wrong.
But that last Steelers’ score cost me $125.
And screw Santonio Holmes anyway, goddamned Buckeye.
Props to Foote and Woodley. Willing to loan them back to the Wolverines for just one year?
Brick Oven Bill
Congratulations to the Steelers. That was a good game.
kommrade reproductive vigor
It ain’t a real game unless you have to peel your eyeballs off the TV when it’s over.
That was a real game.
Ninerdave
Grats John.
Game was awesome in the second half. Why the Cards didn’t just put the ball up for Fitz the whole game I’ll never know. It’s how they made it through the playoffs. He was invisible the entire first half.
I’m still thinking that was a forward pass at the end of the game, but…well I really didn’t have a dog in this hunt other than rooting for the underdog (well that and now the Steelers have more Superbowls than the Niners….bastards!!).
Anyway…was a good game and that all I was hoping for. Well and I wish I was a fly on the wall in John’s house….(with defib paddles of course)…I’m sure that was just as entertaining as the game.
Oh and the commercials were horrible this year. Not a single memorable one. The companies advertising would have spent their money better in bonuses for execs that didn’t need them.
Incertus
It was a good game. I guess Jesus had it in for Arizona–I mean, letting them take the lead only to give it back to Pittsburgh at the end? Cruel, man. Maybe it was revenge for McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin–that did make Jesus look bad, after all.
Comrade Stuck
The commercials this year really sucked imo. The Cards let a tackle intercept a pass on their opponents goal line and run 100 yards for a TD. They deserved to lose for that alone.
stickler
Nice that we can tune in to the Superbowl and actually see a real football game. I had hoped the Stillers could do the job, and at the end they did. But they had to earn it. That’s some good football.
Congrats all around, but especially to Pittsburgh.
Too bad there wasn’t snow, though.
Nicole
Now after midnight and one of the usual drunks on my block (in NYC) is still yelling "Let’s go Steelers! Let’s go." I choose to believe it’s enthusiasm and not that he’s unaware the game is over. In any event, it’s a fine lullabye as I go to sleep.
freeulysses
Longtime regular lurker, here. Just wanted to say Congrats to John and the Steelers. It was a great game, the same way the Pats-Panthers game was, for a Pats fan. Tighter than you expected, more entertaining than you expected, but in the end, same result.
Congrats to the best team this season from a Pats fan.
Ninerdave
Credit where credit is due.
While the pre game was idiotic, the stadium shots from the Goodyear Tunch were awesome.
sus
Pittsburgh area schools are all delayed 2 hours tomorrow morning cause the kids are all out celebrating. (I’d guess teachers too.) There is some celebrating going on in the streets. Hope they all stay sane.
Balconesfault
Excellent game? Piffle.
Poorly played game. Lousy execution. Way too many key penalties. Not much in the way of memorable skill plays.
Reminds me of the "National Championship" game this year.
Teams winning because … well, someone had to win.
Notorious P.A.T.
Oh, let me hurry to invest in the company that paid $3 million for a one-second commercial during an economic meltdown.
Paul B
Great end of half. Great end of game. Great game. Go Steelers!
Brett
Fucking Cardinals (who I was rooting for because, while I have no real stake in either team, I was supporting the relative underdog). Their defense was erratic as all hell that game; they held Pittsburgh at the fucking goal line for seven plays, forcing a field goal, then after scoring a touchdown with only two minutes left, gave up SEVENTY PLUS YARDS in under one minute so that the Steelers could take the touchdown.
Either way, there were an assload of penalties that game.
Bill H
After watching the thuggery of the Steelers, punching an opponent in the face after taking him out of bounds, and repeated body punches to a downed opponent that resulted in an 18" penalty, it will be a while (if ever) before I root for the damned Steelers again. It had nothing to do with them winning, but it was ugly.
Nor will I root for a Cardinals team that has 60 yards to go for a score, trailing by four with 15 seconds left and throws a fucking 5-yard pass.
patrick
You can say what you want about Chris Collinsworth, but if it wasn’t for one freak play the Cardinals win this game. That play was at least a ten point swing. The Cards outgained the Steelers 407 to 292.
OHBUXFAN
John,
Hats off – hope you enjoy the victory. Steelers are a treat to watch.
As a hardcore Buckeye – ’twas great to see Santonio be the MVP.
Pass along condolenced to Ed over at ginandtacos – he’s a lifelong Cardinals football fan.
Savor, bitchez . . . . ..
dobrojutro
@Balconesfault
You can find your perfect game on Madden 2007 Mr. Lombardi.
3D
Like the 1986 World Series, it was boring 75% of the way through, with an unbelievable ending.
David
I was rooting for the Cards (Philly fan, rooting for the underdog is engraved on my psyche by this point), but congrats to the Steelers. Holmes earned that MVP.
Jay Severin Has A Small Pens
I was rooting against the cards.
Warner mentioned Spy Gate on Friday.
Stupid ass.
Someone should have asked him "Are you saying your defensive coordinator was stupid? Because if he doesn’t change the signals up from time to time, that’s what he is."
The reason the Pats beat you is because Mike Martz is predictable at calling plays. He sank every team he coached from there on in.
Singularity
A) Warner’s arm was moving forward and, from an angle behind the defense, you can see he was attempting to throw the ball to Fitzgerald.
B) In any case, this game reminds me why I stopped being a Rams fan. Kurt Warner has the remarkable ability induce heart trouble in anyone rooting for his team.
C) This game was won by the officials, with a big assist from Warner. The Steelers earned maybe 17 of those points.
D) I can’t believe that going into this game I really didn’t care who won, considering how pissed I am at Kurt Warner right now.
E) Grats, Pittsburgh fans. Except Limbaugh, who can go choke on vomit.
Comrade Kevin
I’ll say, thank goodness the Niners got rid of that yahoo. Unfortunately, they have hired, who?
Screamin' Demon
The Steelers didn’t win the game; the Cardinals lost it. Take away the interception at the end of the first half and the Cards would be hoisting the Lombardi trophy. As noted above, Arizona outgained Pittsburgh by 115 yards. But neither team played all that well. Those talking about what a great game it was will change their minds in a day or two. Mediocre Super Bowl at best.
passerby
Does anyone ever wonder what role the officiating plays in a football game?
NFL is a $$$ oriented prospect, do you think that ever comes into play?
I’m a Saints fan. A "small market". The Refs usually err on the side of the larger market. I don’t think that happened tonite, but…I’m just sayin’…
Just wondrin’.
What access do you and I have to the rules and regs of NFL football?
Batocchio
Good game, with a very exciting 4th quarter. I like the Steelers, but it’s too bad for the Cardinals, who last won a championship in 1947. Still, some spectacular plays by both teams.
And, uh, off of your previous post, anyone who doesn’t think Roethlisberger is a "big game quarterback" is a blithering idiot. Some of his plays under pressure were damn impressive, and then there’s that game-winning drive… The Steelers are very lucky to have the young Roethlisberger and Tomlin (among others).
Comrade Kevin
@passerby: The NFL do have a strange relationship with their rule book. The NHL could learn some things from them, though, even though the NHL rule book is on their website, easily read by anyone.
The NFL officials will explain how they interpreted their strange rule book that nobody seems to truly understand, but NHL refs will make a completely strange call on the ice, and not explain how the clear as anything rule book backs them up.
passerby
@Batocchio:
"Blithering idiot" would be me. I’ve worried about Rothlisberger’s performance for some time. After tonight, I saw him calm and cool in the pocket–his guys gave him a pocket.
Yeah, lots of guys can chuck a football, but, if his guys don’t give him a pocket to perform in, he ain’t nowhere, but, Big Ben was a cool customer tonight and so was the Steelers’ O line–Kudos.
El Caballo de Sangre
See, this thread is full of excellent examples of why politics/current events blogs should stay away from sports (the reverse is also true, of course, but the difference is that most sports blogs actually realize this): the readerships are largely comprised of people who are idiots when it comes to the subject. To wit:
– "Arm moving forward", "attempting to throw", etc., don’t have shit to do with whether it was a fumble or not in and of themselves, you dummies. Either you didn’t say what you meant or you don’t know what you’re talking about, and in either case you should STFU.
– Anybody who thinks that the game hinged on James Harrison’s return (with AN ENTIRE FUCKING HALF OF FOOTBALL STILL TO BE PLAYED AND ONLY 10 POINTS SEPARATING THE TEAMS), and supports that idea with a totally context-free stat like total yardage (ever heard of "wasted yards", "yards for points", or "swing points", patrick – not to mention that Harrison’s 100 INT return yards don’t show up on the Steelers’ offensive ledger, you "moran"?) doesn’t know anything at all about football at any level.
– Using the word "piffle" in any discussion of a football game automatically disqualifies your opinion. Also the idea that a game is "poorly executed" that apparently ignores the fact that defenses are also engaged in "executing" out there. Or asserting a lack of "skill plays" – I mean, even leaving out the Fitzgerald/Holmes efforts that put the lie to that statement, what about the 2nd-half pass to Ward in the right flat? The ball couldn’t have been more perfectly thrown, defended, or caught, and you’re bitching about a lack of skill. I’m w/ dobrojutro, Mr. Balconesfault – you should get into fake football, because the real version obviously escapes you.
_ Harrison is not a "tackle".
gogiggs
Well, just like 2006, the Steelers were the better team and yet only won because the refs gave them the game.
Granted, there was nothing as egregious as the penalty called on Matt Hasselback for tackling the guy with the ball (probably the single worst penalty call in NFL history).
Nonetheless, there was an obvious hold on Harrison’s touchdown return that went uncalled. On the Steeler’s second half field goal drive there was probably the most obvious uncalled hold I’ve ever seen in 35+ years of football watching, I mean, the blocker had the defensive player in a chokehold from behind, yet no call. The facemask penalty on the Cardinals on that same drive was justified, sort of, except that the offensive player was facemasking the defender just as much. When the flag flew I assumed it was on the Steelers, just because of the camera angle. The roughing the passer call was bull.
Also worth mentioning, the Cardinals called for two reviews and both times the calls were properly overturned.
So, adding it all up:
Harrison’s TD: gone, due to holding. Pitt -7
Reed’s 3rd qtr, FG gone, due to proper officiating Pitt -3
Possible review of Warner’s last play, unneeded, because he’s just kneeling to wrap it up.
Final score in a well-officiated universe: Arizona 23- Pittsburgh 17.
Again, the Steelers are the better team, but they didn’t play the better game and the officiating was disgrace.
Springsteen was great, though. Hard to believe he’ll be 60 this year.
passerby
@El Caballo de Sangre:
We’re all just spit-balling here, El Caballo. We love football and we love politics. We’re not getting paid for professional commentary nor do we know (nor do you) the facts behind all that’s going on with the world.
[shrugs]
See my comment @70
I think we must all be aware of the shinanigans of those in charge.
Sephiroethlisberger
Yeah, the officiating was a disgrace.
They kept the Cards in the game as long as they could.
They only called holding on the Cards when it was so blatant you could see it from space. The rest of the time they had to let it slide.
I personally liked the bitching about the "roughing the passer" call on Ben. Yes: after the quarterback throws the ball, if you take two steps and hit him in the back, it’s a penalty.
See, this is the problem I always have with complaining about officiating, when someone says something like: "there was holding on Harrison’s return." As a fan, that’s not what you should be mad about. You should be mad that Warner made the dumbest throw of the entire game.
Being a fan is a great and wonderful thing, but "the worst hold I’ve seen in 35+ years of football watching" sounds ridiculous – because someone rooting for the other team saw something just as bad, if not worse. One hold didn’t make any entire drive tonight, for either team, and almost never does in a game — and besides, it’s not like say, a Steelers fan couldn’t complaint about a few of those holding calls the Steelers took…
Oh, and I do agree that the penalty on Hasselbeck in Super Bowl XL was goofy. Except, here’s the thing: they called that exact same penalty on Roethlisberger after he threw an interception at the end of the first half in the Monday Night loss to the Colts in that regular season. (You can look it up – I think it occurs right before or after the two minute warning?) So, while it’s a goofy call, it’s the correct one.
You’re never sure exactly when someone’s karma is going in. Or out.
I give the Cards a lot of credit, they’re a hell of a squad.
El Caballo de Sangre
Well, that’s stupid – I never claimed the knowledge of which you speak. I do, however, know that the comment between mine and yours provided another piece of evidence for my thesis: gogiggs doesn’t seem to know that ballcarriers are ALLOWED to put their hands in the defenders’ faces.
passerby
Agreed, (in more ways than one). I think that botox has become very, very popular. It would cost me $400 to remove the furrow in my brow and I’m standing at the half century mark, but, I’m thinking Bob Costas (and Bruce) are some of the many who are using it to extend the whole "still young enough" thing.
Can’t afford it but would like to,
passerby
gogiggs
Looking at the front page again I am moved to wonder (and, as a Clevelander under 50, it’s not an issue I’ve ever been on the right end of), if one of my teams won a title that they clearly didn’t deserve because of referee interference, would I admit it, or would I try to pretend otherwise? (or would I do like I anticipate John will and profanely insult anyone who suggests the victory was anything other than squeaky clean and divinely ordained)
Here’s hoping Lebron get’s the Dwayne Wade treatment and I get a chance to find out in the NBA finals in a few months. It won’t make up for Tom Glavine’s 5 foot wide strikezone in the ’95 series, but any scrap will do at this point.
passerby
@El Caballo de Sangre:
Please don’t call me stupid, I’m trying to see your point. On a thread a couple of weeks ago, we were trying to figure out how a ball can be considered an incomplete pass when the receiver caught the ball and it squirted out when he hit the ground in the end zone.
My general point is that: money keeps the rules close to the vest for the sake of control.
Patrick
@El Caballo
Specifically, the rule states: "When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body."
That Warner was trying to pass is clear, just whether or not he had started forward motion was not.
Also, I am well aware Pittsburgh’s 100 yard interception did not count towards Pittsburgh’s total yardage. I also know that not every time a team has more offensive yardage it wins — but a team with that large of a differential usually does, and it usually indicates that one offense has outperformed the other. If it doesn’t, usually some other factor such as big plays by special teams or imbalance in turnovers. In this game, neither of those things were true.
The interception was a good play, but a very unusual and very close play. If his knee had touched six inches back he would not have had a touchdown. If the cardinal coming from the inside and pushing him towards the out of bounds line had been the only one there he would have been out of bounds just short of the goal line — the cardinal nearer the sideline actually broke his outward momentum. Everything went right for Pittsburgh on that play, and like a hole in one in golf, it was a skilled play, but one that required a lot of luck to end the way it did.
And one other thing. Generally, Mr. El Caballo, being as rude as you are about matters of such little importance to people you don’t know, whether you are right or wrong about the matter discussed, says more about your general level of ignorance than the people you are addressing.
gogiggs
"See, this is the problem I always have with complaining about officiating, when someone says something like: "there was holding on Harrison’s return." As a fan, that’s not what you should be mad about. You should be mad that Warner made the dumbest throw of the entire game."
See, that’s where your wrong, as a fan of football, I’m not mad that Warner made a bad throw, I’m not mad that the Steelers made a great call and I’m not mad that Harrison made a great play. That’s football. I enjoyed all of that. I’m mad that an obvious hold went uncalled on a play that ended up deciding the outcome of the game.
"Being a fan is a great and wonderful thing, but "the worst hold I’ve seen in 35+ years of football watching" sounds ridiculous – because someone rooting for the other team saw something just as bad, if not worse. One hold didn’t make any entire drive tonight, for either team, and almost never does in a game—- and besides, it’s not like say, a Steelers fan couldn’t complaint about a few of those holding calls the Steelers took…"
I’m sorry if it sounds ridiculous to you, but it was an amazing non-call, the Steeler lineman had his man in a chokehold from behind. It was, as you say, visible from space, yet no call. And the idea that one hold doesn’t make an entire drive is just silly. Take away a gain and substitute a 10 yard loss… lots and lots of drives have been killed by a single hold.
Also, you seem to have the idea that I’m anti-Steelers. I’m not. I quite like the Steelers. They play the kind of football I love; hard-nosed defense and ball control. I’m a Clevelander, but I only root against the Steelers when they play the Browns, (for all the good it does) the rest of the time, I’m a fan. I just prefer to see well officiated games won by the team that deserves the victory.
Freemark
gogiggs
.
The better team won. Just accept it.
.
I’ve never seen a game where a sore loser didn’t blame unfair officiating for the loss. And now I can include this one in that statement. I’m sure some sore loser Pittsburgh fan would be saying the same thing if they hadn’t won in the end.
passerby
@Freemark:
Agreed. The veteran SB team won out.
BUT
The Cinderella Cardinals put up a good fight. Always, officiating plays a part, no? I’d be hard pressed to declare that officiating won it or lost it tonight, however…
can we agree that officiating is more subjective than we would like it to be?
gogiggs
Would you be hard-pressed to declare that officiating won or lost it?
If the hold against the Steelers on Harrison’s return is called, 7 points come off the board.
Final score was 27-23.
passerby
@gogiggs:
But gogiggs, couldn’t " holding" be called on many a play??
You’re helping me make the point that the refs play it the way it "needs" to be played. No?
Thlayli
Second straight SB with two lead changes in the final three minutes.
It’s been a really good decade for Super Bowls, actually. The last blowout was Tampa Bay vs Oakland, six years ago. The last eight SBs have had four last-minute game-winning drives: two by Brady, one by E Manning, and now one by Roethlisberger.
Personally, I don’t miss the days of 55-10 and 52-17 finals.
Singularity
Perhaps, but they’re not allowed to grab hold of the facemask, intentionally or accidentally. That applies to offensive players as well as defensive players. You seem to call people a whole lot of names considering your evident lack of understanding of the rules of football.
I played outside linebacker. What position did you play?
cosanostradamus
.
Snow closes UK, Obama says they’re "pussies."
.
John Cole
LMAO. A Browns fan stinking up the post, claiming the refs gave it to the Steelers and they actually lost but for the refs. Up next, Hugh Hewitt with an open-minded evaluation of the Clinton years.
I wouldn’t worry your pretty little head about it too much. The Browns will NEVER win the Super Bowl. You girls should just focus on a winning season for the next few decades.
And for the record, I am still not sure Ben’s knee was down on the first challenge.
Libby
What a nailbiter. Hooray for the Steelers.
Laura W
@Laura W:
Well, this idiot from the LA Times declares this specific ad as THE BEST.
If by "building" you mean "waterboarding". I have no doubt that this person likes parades, fireworks, trick-or-treaters, christmas carols, company, and Billy Joel. Proving once again that there is no accounting for taste.
Bill Belichick
Normally I’d congratulate the warriors on both sides after that epic. But since the Steelers are involved I have to pee on their parade. They would do likewise. They got lucky. Tomlin was classless in his victory speech, it was all about the Steelers, Steelers, Steelers. The handshake with the other guy was way too short, there will be ahuge scandal. Oh wait, scratch that, we all have to bend over and grab our ankles because Tomlin is, uh so young and pretty. Wasn’t there another team on the field Coach? Couldn’t ack their efforts for more than 2 millicseconds? Ward’s shoe was untied during the post game, another no-class Steeler. Ben probably got plastered and wrecked another bike. Those towels are so expansion-team-in-the-middle-of-nowhere.
Oh well, the last laugh is on you. Taking that horse shoe out of your ass is gonna smart.
Congratulations, Arizona!
DecidedFenceSitter
Thought on conclusion: "John’s going to have had a heart-attack."
Other thoughts: I watched as a Cardinal "fan"; as I had no real preference, I picked the under-dog to root for.
The Cardinals played stupid and ugly, and I thought that the Steelers should have had a much larger point margin on the basis of the penalties alone. I was amazed on the yardage difference between the two.
The blatant roughness penalty in the fourth irritated me, especially as it was all of what, a 1/2 yard penalty? I think the officials "looked" for something to really get the Steelers for on the next play (that led to the safety), but that’s my opinion based on human nature.
But a good game in that each team was equally matched; an ugly game in that neither was particularly technically competent.
Laura W
@passerby:
Ditto. Been having the same thought lately. Except it sort of scares me.
What did you do…hold John’s vicarious hand thru his night of elated insomnia?
El Caballo de Sangre
Right on, JC. My Ohio State blogs, being largely run by and populated with Clowns fans, are teeming with that bullshit today.
khead
I told y’all you can’t go wrong by punching a koala in the face.
dobrojutro
Cleveland fans: The 911-truthers of professional sports.
qwerty42
Didn’t have a dog in this one (well, slight not to the Steelers), but it really was a great game. I thought both sides played very well, and it was exciting until the end. Maybe more than John might have wanted, but really enjoyable.
Grumpy Code Monkey
Suckage is conservative[1] — the better the game, the worse the commercials, and vice-versa.
1. Meaning it obeys a conservation law, not that it votes Republican…even though that would eplain some things
tom p
2 penalties really ticked me off, not because they were wrongly called, but because they were correctly called.
One was the "ruffing the holder" call against the cards. I can see protecting the kicker because he is in a very exposed position, but the holder? especially when the contact, while not incidental, was not egregious either? All the defender did was run over him. If they don’t want blocked kicks, they should just go ahead and ban rushing on FGs.
The 2nd call really ticked me off, and that was the safety on the "hold in the endzone". WTF is that all about? There is holding on every play, so basically a ref has the power to entirely change the game, because he thinks it was a "bad" hold and not a "not so bad" hold. Not only does one team get 2 points, but they also get immediate possession of the ball in decent field position. That one call almost cost the steelers the game. Much better call to lose a down and half the distance.
I know these are the rules, but they are stupid. I always thought the point of the game was to have the players win or lose.
And for the record, I was rooting Cards all the way. Warner plays the game like few others ever have. Any one know what his QB rating was? I can’t find it in any of the papers.
ricky
Well, the game proved two things.
1) The Cardinals have a defense as bad as advertised. Even an offense as bad as Pittsburgh’s was able to put up 14 points on them without ref interference.
2) The Cardinal offense can’t tackle any better than their defense.
Scott
Just go the fuck away Browns fans. It was a great game and I don’t even hear the Cardinal fans complaining about the officiating, just Cleveland fan. And why don’t you start whining now about the bad officiating that will cost you the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics.
And say what you want about the Cardinals effort (it was great) if they won they would have been the worst team to win the Super Bowl in its history. They won’t even make the playoffs next year.
HRA
This was one of the best , if not the best, SB I ever watched.
I always root for the AFC and in the past I had a lot of favorite Steeler players. Yes, it got me nervous enough to jump from my seat a few times. Congratulations, Steelers.
Of course, I am a Bills fan. Those heart wrenching SBs are fading from memory and I am thankful for it. Wide right I have to work on some more.
A coworker led me to watch Jim Kelly’s face before he took the field. 100% right in the looks spelling disaster.
So yesterday I saw the same look on Warner’s face and it was so true especially in the first half. I barely looked at him in the 2nd half. I was looking for the Cardinals team to do something even though I root for the AFC.
RFUBAR
@Screamin’ Demon: The game is decided by the players on the field, not the stats they compile. In the course of playing a game, if they happen to run up stats, fine. Otherwise, according to the rule book, the team with the most points at the end of the game, wins.
Fubar (channeling Coach Danny Murtaugh, 1960 World Series)
terry chay
@John Cole: Ahh but he was carried in by his lineman, so the non-touchdown was a good call. If only because if it has been called the other way, I’d be hearing Steelers-haters whining about that play call instead of holding calls.
If you’re going to whine about holding, geez. I saw a number of obvious holding non-calls on both sides of the ball. (As a Steelers fan, I seemed to notice more Cardinals holds.) I also noticed a pretty nasty Arizona personal foul in the beginning of the second half that was missed. Methinks that that had something to do with Ike Taylor and Harrison losing their s–t and punching some Cardinals and getting (correctly called) personal fouls.
There’s a lot of Steelers hate (Holgren and Collinsworth are reliable that way), but then when you consider all the analysts with Pittsburgh and Steeler ties, it is understandable. After all, it doesn’t seem like a Steeler Superbowl comes out where my team beats the spread. Obviously a lot of people like my team more than is rational.
Andy K
I think overturning the ruling on the field was a bit of CYA on the part of the ref. Since you can’t call a penalty as part of the review process, I think the ref saw a little bit of "incontrovertible visual evidence" that was, in an unprejudiced view, controvertible.
I want to see a replay of the holding in the end zone that gave the Cards 2 points and the ball. If initial contact between the offensive and defensive player ocurred outside of the end zone, and in the course of the block the offensive player held in the end zone, the penalty is enforced from the point of initial contact. (This call occurred during a Sunday night Packers/Lions game about 4 seasons ago.) The Steelers would have another shot at picking up the first down, and the Cards have 14 points, not 16.
Professor Fate
Congrats on the Steelers- Family lived in Pittsburg 1959-61 and my dad had season tickets – so even though we moved back to NYC in 62 he always had a fondness for the team.
And allow me some sympathy for the Devil – to me, it looked like Harrsion started pouding the hell out of the Cardinal player becasue the Cardinal player had tried to take out Harrison’s knees – people have been know to lose it over that – even Mean Joe Green.
I thought one of the reasons the game got exciting was that the Steelers started playing very very close to the vest on both sides of the ball in the 4th Quarter .
andrea
Happy Steelers fans in San Francisco:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/02/02/MNVH15LEE6.DTL&o=0
The place is owned by a Pittsburgh expat. I stopped in for lunch today and his voice was still shot. They make a mean all in one sandwich.