Super Bowl Wrap-Up
Overall, Super Bowl XL was a pretty well-played game, which I guess is all you can ask. I'm a little disappointed in the outcome, but I can live with it. Aside from the Seahawks' last drive, I can't think of any particular point where they could blantantly obviously done things a lot better. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team because they were better than you that day.
With that said, what was up with that 2-minute drill? For an "expert" play caller like Mike Holmgren, that was pathetic. I know part of it was the execution, which is on the guys on the field, and Pittsburgh was playing pretty tight D, but by no means when you're down 11 and past the 2 minute warning should you be throwing 6 yard dump-off passes over the middle to your fullback. I also didn't like that he didn't kick the field goal after he got into scoring range, but instead ran 3 plays that did nothing but eat clock. The whole idea of a 2-minute drill is to elongate the game so that you give your team as many opportunities to stay in it as possible, and that's pretty much the opposite of what actually happened. I hope that poor clock management and shoddy play calling at the end of the game aren't becoming a Super Bowl trends, because in the last two years such things have slightly tarnished a couple of pretty good games.
And your Super Bowl MVP is...Hines Ward? Aside from his catching the TD on the reverse option pass, I can't remember any other play he was involved in. I know they had to pick someone, and no one else is really obvious to me. All I'm saying is, that was the quietest 5 catches for 123 yards that I can remember since, well, T.O.'s 9-catch, 117-yard game in last year's Super Bowl. The only differences are, of course, a TD and a win, which I guess are two somewhat important things. Still, if I had to pick someone, I think it would have been Ike Taylor, whose interception in the third quarter was really what got the Steelers on the path to victory. I personally think it would have been appropriate to have a defensive player be the MVP, considering how little offense we saw last night from both teams. Pittsburgh went on to win despite not registering a single first down in the entire first quarter, for crying out loud! Then again, when there aren't many obvious candidates for something like this, usually a big name will get it. Roethlisberger was mediocre while Ward had over 100 yards and a TD, so there you go.
Did anybody see Joey Porter at all last night? Nope, me neither. Ol' Motormouth had absolutely zero impact on the Super Bowl. I hope he remembers this the next time he decides to talk about whatever manufactured motivation he's using for his next game.
With that said, what was up with that 2-minute drill? For an "expert" play caller like Mike Holmgren, that was pathetic. I know part of it was the execution, which is on the guys on the field, and Pittsburgh was playing pretty tight D, but by no means when you're down 11 and past the 2 minute warning should you be throwing 6 yard dump-off passes over the middle to your fullback. I also didn't like that he didn't kick the field goal after he got into scoring range, but instead ran 3 plays that did nothing but eat clock. The whole idea of a 2-minute drill is to elongate the game so that you give your team as many opportunities to stay in it as possible, and that's pretty much the opposite of what actually happened. I hope that poor clock management and shoddy play calling at the end of the game aren't becoming a Super Bowl trends, because in the last two years such things have slightly tarnished a couple of pretty good games.
And your Super Bowl MVP is...Hines Ward? Aside from his catching the TD on the reverse option pass, I can't remember any other play he was involved in. I know they had to pick someone, and no one else is really obvious to me. All I'm saying is, that was the quietest 5 catches for 123 yards that I can remember since, well, T.O.'s 9-catch, 117-yard game in last year's Super Bowl. The only differences are, of course, a TD and a win, which I guess are two somewhat important things. Still, if I had to pick someone, I think it would have been Ike Taylor, whose interception in the third quarter was really what got the Steelers on the path to victory. I personally think it would have been appropriate to have a defensive player be the MVP, considering how little offense we saw last night from both teams. Pittsburgh went on to win despite not registering a single first down in the entire first quarter, for crying out loud! Then again, when there aren't many obvious candidates for something like this, usually a big name will get it. Roethlisberger was mediocre while Ward had over 100 yards and a TD, so there you go.
Did anybody see Joey Porter at all last night? Nope, me neither. Ol' Motormouth had absolutely zero impact on the Super Bowl. I hope he remembers this the next time he decides to talk about whatever manufactured motivation he's using for his next game.
posted by Lock Ness Monster at 6:47 AM
4 Comments:
It was a good game since it wasn't a blow-out as some turn out to be. I felt like two questionable calls could have REALLY changed the outcome, and it's too bad games of this magnitude can be decided by questionable calls by official, who I know are trying their best. I just think they get over-zealous in making calls.
The push-off that negated a Seahawk touchdown was one of the weakest pushoffs I've ever seen. It had no effect on the Steeler defender. The holding call that brought back a Seahwak first down on the one....even Madden said he didn't see anything there. I won't even get into the Rothlisberger touchdown. That could have gone either way.
I don't know how you fix the problem, but officiating in the NFL has been bad and getting worse for years now. I was remiss in not mentioning that in my original post. The Jackson phantom PI call was especially egregious. For the life of me, I couldn't definitively tell whether Jackson had actually even touched the Pittsburgh defender on that play.
I personally didn't believe Big Ben broke the plane, but once it was called a touchdown, there was no way it was getting reversed. It was simply too close. I'm fine with that.
The problem I had with that play is that the referee ran halfway to the ball while signaling that it was to be spotted outside the end zone, then signaled touchdown a full 3 seconds after the play was whistled dead. It was either a TD or it wasn't, and nothing that happened while the zebra was running toward the ball should have changed his call.
If a ref's going to be wrong (not saying he was for sure, just speaking hypothetically), he should at least be wrong with authority. Waffling is something I just can't tolerate in a referee. Especially with the safety net of replay being available now, there's no excuse for an official to not at least look sure of himself when making a call. To do anything less calls into question the validity of the play's outcome.
Thanks for your kind words, Vern. It'd certainly be fun to do that for a living if the opportunity presented itself. For now, though, I'll just keep plugging away in the real world.
Speaking of sports commentary, you're certainly giving Chris Berman a run for his money with the nicknames.
Why didn't they give the MVP to Willie Parker? Record setting, game changing touchdown, 93 yds rushing.
Before that the Steelers were doing a whole lot of nothing. The way the Hawks played the first half, without Parker's run the game would have been a lot different.
As for the refs, the only way you can fix it (like most other problems) is to outsource and pay more. I mean if the Refs have to worry about what helps the NFL (big market teams, great stories) and they can be bought for cheap, how much can you trust their calls?
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