Monday Mania - SuperBowl Extended Edition
No matter how you slice or dice it Super Bowl 43 was a full 60 minutes of hard fought athletic competition. The Steelers came into the game after finishing the toughest schedule in football 12-4 and the Cardinals had one of the weakest schedules yet finished 9-7. This pairing was very unlikely and many experts predicted a shalacking of those Red Birds from Arizona though I’d say ‘those‘ experts probably aren’t very good at their jobs. If you are a Jim Rome listener you know when I say the Jungle Karma was even and the playing field was neutral. Super Bowl 43, while somewhat sloppy, was an excellent show.
With Madden and Michaels at the helm the stage was set and the game was under way. Usually, the beginning of a big game can be very uneventful and not a good barometer for the rest of the game but this one told all. Ben Roethlisberger was poised, accurate, and shifty leading the Steelers all the way down to the 1 yard line. It was already looking like the ‘experts’ could be right but ‘Zona stepped up and stopped the Steelers 3 plays in a row to force a field goal. It was also the game’s first challenge with Ken Whisenhunt getting a would be Roethlisberger scramble for a touchdown reversed. It was evident that Roethlisberger showed up to play, the Cardinals D wasn’t going to give up, and the game should be a tight one.
Pittsburgh would march down the field later in the first quarter to punch in a touchdown after shutting down the Cardinals offense but Warner and company just wanted to game. On the next drive Warner hit Anquan Boldin for a 45 yard pass that took Arizona to about the 3 yard line. It was a very big play because Arizona had just backed themselves up with offensive holding 2 plays before that. The game was getting better on the score board at 10-7 Pittsburgh.
Arizona’s defense forced an interception off a deflection giving Arizona 2 minutes to tie the game up or take a lead. Warner worked the middle of the field to get big chunks of yards but it left them at the goal line with 19 seconds. 19 seconds gives you roughly enough time to take three shots into the end zone. I was thinking #11 (Fitzgerald), back of the end zone, and a jump ball for 6 points but instead we got a poor decision by Warner. Trying to force a quick slant to Boldin, Warner would throw a pick to James Harrison who returned it 100 yards for a Pittsburgh touchdown. The Cardinals would be haunted by their inability to bring Harrison down or push him out of bounds since the clock would have expired. Halftime had the Steelers 17 the Cardinals 7.
Arizona started the second half with the ball but soon were punting and back on defense. The next drive was a tough and one of the hardest fought I’ve seen in a long time. Karlos Dansby was flagged for unnecesarry roughness for a late hit on the quarterback that really shouldn’t have been called. It was a shoulder tap that wasn’t flagrant nor really late. Either way, Pittsburgh would soon be in scoring position again. It would be Dansby that lead the charge on 1st and goal stopping parker 4 yards deep in his backfield. Arizona forced a kick only to get flagged for another unnecessary roughness call on Adrian Wilson for running into the holder. I really wasn’t sold on this call either as Wilson stumbled and merely put his hands out but didn’t really hit the holder. Tough call since he was falling all over himself. The craziest part is that Arizona would stuff the Steelers for 3 more plays and force a field goal. At 20-7 it was looking grim for the Cards but they just never quit.
Darnell Dockett and the Cardinals D line needed to take this game over for them to have a chance. Dockett forced his way to Roethlisberger two of the three plays on the Steelers next possession. The Steelers were playing “possession” football and Dockett just looked like a man possessed totally destroying the offensive line to bring Big Ben down. Another resurgence to the game was Larry Fitzgerald. Using only 3 minutes of the clock, Warner pushed the Cardinals down the field capping it off with a jump ball to Larry Fitzgerald who called upon David Tyree to make the catch. With their defensive line playing like madmen and their offensive attack coming together the Cardinals just might make a record come back.
“DD” as I’m going to call him just went off again on the Pittsburgh line forcing yet another punt. This game was officially getting crazy and the Steelers were starting to fall apart. Ike Taylor would get called for an unnecessary roughness penalty for a stupid sideline scuffle and James Harrison got one of his own when Arizona punted the ball. Harrison’s was far worse since he punched a player in the head twice and followed it up with slamming the guy to the ground who was in a helpless position. I really think the ref’s need to throw guys out of the game for shit like this. It was intolerable and the Steelers had the ball on their own 1/2 yard mark after that.
Pittsburgh had to get the ball out of their own end zone, not hold, and not have an intentional grounding call. 3rd and 10 looked like a big play to Santonio Holmes but instead it was a safety for offensive holding in the end zone when Karlos Dansby got pile drived by the center. Wow! The score was now 20-16 and could be poised to be one of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history.
Kurt Warner would finish the day with 377 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. 64 of that 377 came on their next drive with a slant route to Larry Fitzgerald. It was beautifully executed between all the defenders and Warner put the ball at the perfect spot for Fitzgerald to keep full stride. I’m sure Bill Walsh was looking down confused because it was “SO” Montana to Rice without being Montana to Rice. Warner and the offense had done it. They brought the Cards back after tearing through the top defense in the NFL.
One last drive for Big Ben with 2:47 on the clock and 80 yards to go. DD needed to step up on one more series and it would be over. Nope, not this time. It was on this drive that the MVP was stolen from Warner via the hands of Pittsburgh’s young receiver, Santonio Holmes. This whole drive was about Roethlisberger to Holmes. Not only did Holmes get the initial first down but he put them in scoring position with a 40 yard catch and run landing the Steelers on the Cardinals 6. Maybe the Cardinals would double him around the goal line? Didn’t matter, after one throw to the left corner of the end zone didn’t quite work out the Steelers threw it to Holmes again to the right corner of the end zone. It was an absolutely perfect pass by Roethlisberger and Holmes made a very good catch and kept his feet down. Suddenly, Pittsburgh’s great collapsed had turned into Arizona’s. This will be a catch that will be remembered for awhile and a drive that earned Holmes MVP honors. Arizona would fumble away the last drive and that was the ball game.
Hyper’s Thoughts
- Hell of a game
- Big Ben got his redemption from the first Super Bowl he played in
- Anquan Boldin didn’t look quite 100% to me
- Darnell Dockett stepped up but the rest of Arizona’s d-line didn’t
- James Harrison needs to get one hell of a fine
- Just think, if Arizona tackles Harrison they probably would have won
- Troy Polama…who?
- I think Warner has one more year now
- Cardinals looked scary like the Rams
- Arizona should make a play for LT if Edge leaves but they wont
- Madden and Michaels are still very good. I don’t think I could have listened to Joe Buck or anyone from ESPN through that game
- Best commercial for me was the “I’m good” ones with the guy getting shot off the ladder
- Where were they handing out these 3D glasses?
- Remember it’s “Hyundai like Sunday”
- Supposedly the NFL has been trying to get Springstein since 1975… WHY?
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Tags: Football, NFL, Sports, Super Bowl
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One Response to “Monday Mania - SuperBowl Extended Edition”
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February 2nd, 2009 at 7:47 pm
That was a painful final 3 minutes or so. I’m going to be honest. I really can’t stand Kurt Warner as a person, but he is a man among men when he’s under center. How impressive is it to be in three Superbowls and have the top 3 passing games in Superbowl history? I seriously think on that last Steeler return for the touchdown that the Cards defense just assumed the flag that was thrown was on the Steelers and decided to stop playing. There was no fucking excuse for that go all the way back. Just none.