Cardinals nearly beat Steelers/refs, but can only blame themselves

[maverick4]

Great games by Fitz, Whisenhunt and #90 on the Cardinals defense.

Yes the Cardinals were hosed on some calls (Harrison not ejected after assaulting a guy, Holmes not flagged for using football as a prop, no review on game ending incompletion/fumble, questionable holding/pass interference/roughing passer calls).

BUT, despite a tough Steelers team and some biased refs, they still lead the game with 2 minutes to go. In the end, they let Santonio Holmes catch 3 killer balls including an amazing circus catch to win the game.

The Steelers were handed most of the game but in the end they still won it and earned it with that final drive. Big Ben became a HOF, and Warner maybe shut himself out of the hall.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Very strict called gamed by the officials tonight. A few misses but not too bad imo. Arizona played a real good game but it all came down to Warners interception.

 

[ALP]

testing new live icon thing....

 

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

Very strict called gamed by the officials tonight. A few misses but not too bad imo. Arizona played a real good game but it all came down to Warners interception.

That was an excellent playcall by LeBeau-I mean did ANYONE see that coming? Harrison faking the rush but dropping back in coverage? That's what championship teams do-they study all the fine details...which is why Belichick is an HOF coach. Which is also why LeBeau is one of the best DCs in the game.

That Santonio Holmes is a game breaker-he played lights out in the final sprint of the season.

 

[thechris]

Very exciting game. Too bad the Steelers won.

Still can't believe Harrison took that INT all the way for a touchdown. Unreal.

 

[sg14]

Couple of thoughts,,

Arizona had the whole field to tackle Harrison,shudda, wudda, cudda,, quite a run by #92

Will Goodell fine Harrison??
That guy can not be the brightest bulb on the string of lights, with the whole world watching.

Watching Holmes good play made me wish we could draft a good WR

Came away thinking Arizona would win more than 50% of the games if they played multiple times.

 

[brdmaverick]

The calls were going the Steelers way most of the night, but the Cards were catching some breaks late in the game. The biggest call going their way was the holding call in the end zone awarding the safety when it looked like the Steelers had sealed the game with a killer first down. Good call, but given the way the officiating was going, it looked like one that the refs would overlook.

The personal foul penalty that was called against the Steelers was kind of a tacky penalty. Sure, there was some jawing and pushing but nothing that I think would warrant a personal foul in a SUPER BOWL.

It was a good game, the Cards had a chance, but as the original poster says, they only have themselves to blame (see key PICK SIX in last play of the first half).

 

[Yehoodi]

Very strict called gamed by the officials tonight. A few misses but not too bad imo. Arizona played a real good game but it all came down to Warners interception.

regarding a strict called game, do you have an opinion on the missed block in the back on Harrison's int return for a td?

 

[Rob0729]

I'm sorry, but I feel the Cards had no one to blame but themselves. I give the Steelers a lot of credit, but why were the Cards defense going away from what was working on the final Steelers' drive. They risked too many blitz schemes when they know Roethlisberger will kill you if you don't keep him in the pocket. They would have been better off only rushing four and dropping more into coverage.

There were some bad calls, but there were bad calls and non-calls going both ways.

 

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

I wonder how the Steelers will do next year-I mean this COULD have been their last golden opportunity in awhile, why? Their O-line is poopy, and it's not like those low seeded draft picks will help them fill this glaring hole, at least not right away.

I could see them taking a step back in '09 like they did in '06.

 

[Fencer]

Couple of thoughts,,

Arizona had the whole field to tackle Harrison,shudda, wudda, cudda,, quite a run

What's worse, it looked as if Fitzgerald, after hustling down to tackle him, missed a chance at what would have been one of the headiest plays ever, which is to somehow fall down in a way that let Harrison be pushed out of bounds -- with no time left on the clock.

NO discredit to Fitz that he didn't do it, but he may feel bad over it later.

 

[AFPatsFan12]

The title of the thread really sums up my thoughts on this game perfectly.

The officials were terrible. I actually found myself getting as riled up as if the Patriots were involved, they were that bad. They were the victim of a slew of penalties that ranged from ticky-tack (a holding against the defender covering Hines Ward in the 4th quarter that negated an incompletion, for example), to really bad (missing numerous blocks in the backs/holds on the Harrison INT TD), to downright grotesque (that Roughing the Passer was AWFUL... I would love to hear Terry McCauly's justification on that one). I've already seen some people point to the fact that the Cardinals got some calls at the end of the game, but those calls were so friggin blatant, they couldn't have NOT been called. I was stunned that the umpire called the holding in the endzone on Pittsburgh, but watching that again, if that wasn't called (and let's face it, hardly any Steelers holding got called, which I would be ok with had it been that way for both sides), there should have been an investigation. That was so incredibly obvious, it had to be called. Same with the Harrison PF penalty that resulted in all of 1 penalty yard for Pittsburgh.

I'm not a "ZOMG, TEH GAMES R RIGGED!!!!" nutjob, but there does seem to be an unacceptable level of incompetence regarding NFL officiating, and this certainly isn't new news. Officials are human, and can't possibly catch every infraction at NFL speeds, but so many performances recently border on absurd, and in the Super Bowl, you're supposed to have the best crew, period. And obviously the 7 officials on the field tonight were rated the best during the 2008 season (unless a rookie official or one of last year's SB officials ranked higher, they can't work SB's), but that performance was unacceptable.

How does an official, staring 5 feet away at Santonio Holmes using the ball as a prop for his Lebron James impersonation, not throw the flag? How can you call a game SO tightly throughout, then choose not to call that infraction?

It's not shenanigans, it's incompetence. Either way, it has to stop, and it has to stop soon...

 

[PatsFan24]

Madden said harrison should have been tossed for that crap he pulled and i could not agree more. that was just a cheap shot.

 

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

Madden said harrison should have been tossed for that crap he pulled and i could not agree more. that was just a cheap shot.

In championship games, they seem to not fool with ejections.

I remember in the '02 World Series game 7 b/w the SF Giants and Anaheim Angels, the star Giants pitcher(forgot his name) started saying **** off, **** you, etc to the umpires, but they just ignored him. If this were a regular season game, or a non-World Series game 7, he would have been ejected easily.

 

[PAPatsjunkie]

All you need to know about the officiating was that Al Michaels actually made the comment "Mike Holmgren(who was watching in the studio) must be having flashbacks right now". I cant believe the breaks the Steelers always get, such frauds.

 

[WhiZa]

The refs were bad, but are usually worse during Patriot games.

I remember saying when they got their last first down at ~25 yard line that all they needed to do is run the ball three times and take the 3 points. Instead they pass, lose the 3 points, and can't even push the guy out of bounds. It turns into a 10 point swing and they had to abandon the running game.

 

[SVN]

I'm sorry, but I feel the Cards had no one to blame but themselves. I give the Steelers a lot of credit, but why were the Cards defense going away from what was working on the final Steelers' drive. They risked too many blitz schemes when they know Roethlisberger will kill you if you don't keep him in the pocket. They would have been better off only rushing four and dropping more into coverage.

There were some bad calls, but there were bad calls and non-calls going both ways.

rodney said the same thing today on the dan patrick radio show.
But ,steelers made the plays when needed and Ben R really evolved into a great QB.For some reason we always compare him to brady and manning and say he isnt there yet but not too many QB's have had a game winning TD drive in the SB when your team is down ,not even Brady.

 

[Triggerfish]

I wonder how the Steelers will do next year-I mean this COULD have been their last golden opportunity in awhile, why? Their O-line is poopy, and it's not like those low seeded draft picks will help them fill this glaring hole, at least not right away.

I could see them taking a step back in '09 like they did in '06.

Ummm....their O-line HAS BEEN "poopy", and they just won the Super Bowl with it! I certainly can't see their O-line getting any WORSE next season, so if they did it this year with that O-line, why not another SB run in '09?!

 

[Dino 6 Rings]

rodney said the same thing today on the dan patrick radio show.
But ,steelers made the plays when needed and Ben R really evolved into a great QB.For some reason we always compare him to brady and manning and say he isnt there yet but not too many QB's have had a game winning TD drive in the SB when your team is down ,not even Brady.

Thanks for the Ben props.

As for the refs, it is what it is, did they favor the Steelers...I don't think so, but I'm a homer. I heard Boomer Esiason say they could have called Holding on Gandy on basically every single passing play. And the first Fitz TD Catch...looked to me like the nose of the ball hit the turf as he went down...not sure about the review there, but that one could have been INC.

It is what it is. We started with a 1st and 20 with just over 2 mins to go in the game and drove the field to score a TD with 35 seconds left and won the game.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

It is what it is. We started with a 1st and 20 with just over 2 mins to go in the game and drove the field to score a TD with 35 seconds left and won the game.

No doubt man. People can say what they want about the refs but Arizona still managed to get the lead at the end and just like that Ben took it back. It came down to who makes the plays at the end and Pittsburgh did that.