What have we learned - Super Bowl XL
To no one's surprise, the Steelers won the Super Bowl and covered the point spread. I'm sick of hearing that they got "one for the thumb," as this implies continuity with the teams that won the first four. Get over yourself, Pittsburgh - your quarterback was not born when you last won a Super Bowl. Congratulations and all that, but let's not get carried away here.
I'm not going to break it down too much, because the Super Bowl has become such an exhibition game that it's almost like breaking down the Pro Bowl, but I will say one thing: the Steelers ought to send a nice thank-you note to the league officials.
That's not to say they were handed the game. Pittsburgh generally played better, and the Seahawks played worse. Seattle had plenty of opportunities to put the game away early, and they didn't take advantage of them. Pittsburgh, except for that one horrendous interception by Roethlisberger, did take advantage of their opportunities. So they deserved to win. However ...
Darrell Jackson's pass interference early. Even die-hard Steelers fans have to admit that was a horrible call. He barely touched the defender and didn't impede him in any way. That's a touchdown. 4 points off the board for the Seahawks (they kicked a field goal on the drive, didn't they?)
Roethlisberger did not score a touchdown. I'm sorry, but I think the replay is pretty clear about it. Even if you can't overturn the call (and I can buy that), the official on the field blew it pretty badly. Here's what he saw: the runner not stretching the ball at all to get into the end zone; the runner falling down completely out of the end zone; the runner stretching to get in after he was down. How do you call it a touchdown on the field? Subtract 4 points from Pittsburgh (they probably would have kicked the field goal).
Finally, when the Seahawks had a chance to take the lead, they were called for a completely bogus holding call that wiped out a pass down to the 1-yard line. John Madden wondered aloud where the holding call was. That led directly to the interception by Hasselbeck that led to the game-clinching touchdown. Add 7 points to Seattle.
What does that give us? 21 points for the Seahawks, 17 points for the Steelers. Hmmm ...
Let me reiterate: the Seahawks blew the game on their own. At the end of the half, they did exactly what the Colts did at the end of their playoff game: tried to go deep instead of picking up some extra yardage to get an easier field goal. Brown's kick would have been good from about 44 yards, but it drifted just right from 54. That's another three points. Jerramy Stevens made a nice touchdown catch, but dropped three of them. Just before the first Pittsburgh touchdown, Mack Strong made no effort to get a first down on third down when all he had to do was stretch for it a bit. He just dropped. A 37-yard pass to Hines Ward on 3rd-and-28 to set up the first Pittsburgh touchdown. And how do you not see that Randle El touchdown pass to put the game away? Norah, who is 7 months old and was sleeping at the time, saw that coming. Inexcusable.
I have no problem with Pittsburgh winning. I have no problem with the Steelers, and I respect the fact that they have kept coaches for a long time and built a nice community as well as a team. I got a little sick of them the past two weeks, but that's not their fault. They're a young team with a lot of potential, and if they stay healthy, they should be formidable next year. An all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl next year????
As for the MVP: Hines Ward? Please. How about Alan Faneca? He cleared the way for Willie Parker's 75-yard touchdown run that pretty much won the game. Must be fun for Parker to run 75 yards untouched. Ward made two important catches, and he was wide open both times. But that would mean giving the award to an offensive lineman. That's not sexy!
I'm not going to break it down too much, because the Super Bowl has become such an exhibition game that it's almost like breaking down the Pro Bowl, but I will say one thing: the Steelers ought to send a nice thank-you note to the league officials.
That's not to say they were handed the game. Pittsburgh generally played better, and the Seahawks played worse. Seattle had plenty of opportunities to put the game away early, and they didn't take advantage of them. Pittsburgh, except for that one horrendous interception by Roethlisberger, did take advantage of their opportunities. So they deserved to win. However ...
Darrell Jackson's pass interference early. Even die-hard Steelers fans have to admit that was a horrible call. He barely touched the defender and didn't impede him in any way. That's a touchdown. 4 points off the board for the Seahawks (they kicked a field goal on the drive, didn't they?)
Roethlisberger did not score a touchdown. I'm sorry, but I think the replay is pretty clear about it. Even if you can't overturn the call (and I can buy that), the official on the field blew it pretty badly. Here's what he saw: the runner not stretching the ball at all to get into the end zone; the runner falling down completely out of the end zone; the runner stretching to get in after he was down. How do you call it a touchdown on the field? Subtract 4 points from Pittsburgh (they probably would have kicked the field goal).
Finally, when the Seahawks had a chance to take the lead, they were called for a completely bogus holding call that wiped out a pass down to the 1-yard line. John Madden wondered aloud where the holding call was. That led directly to the interception by Hasselbeck that led to the game-clinching touchdown. Add 7 points to Seattle.
What does that give us? 21 points for the Seahawks, 17 points for the Steelers. Hmmm ...
Let me reiterate: the Seahawks blew the game on their own. At the end of the half, they did exactly what the Colts did at the end of their playoff game: tried to go deep instead of picking up some extra yardage to get an easier field goal. Brown's kick would have been good from about 44 yards, but it drifted just right from 54. That's another three points. Jerramy Stevens made a nice touchdown catch, but dropped three of them. Just before the first Pittsburgh touchdown, Mack Strong made no effort to get a first down on third down when all he had to do was stretch for it a bit. He just dropped. A 37-yard pass to Hines Ward on 3rd-and-28 to set up the first Pittsburgh touchdown. And how do you not see that Randle El touchdown pass to put the game away? Norah, who is 7 months old and was sleeping at the time, saw that coming. Inexcusable.
I have no problem with Pittsburgh winning. I have no problem with the Steelers, and I respect the fact that they have kept coaches for a long time and built a nice community as well as a team. I got a little sick of them the past two weeks, but that's not their fault. They're a young team with a lot of potential, and if they stay healthy, they should be formidable next year. An all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl next year????
As for the MVP: Hines Ward? Please. How about Alan Faneca? He cleared the way for Willie Parker's 75-yard touchdown run that pretty much won the game. Must be fun for Parker to run 75 yards untouched. Ward made two important catches, and he was wide open both times. But that would mean giving the award to an offensive lineman. That's not sexy!
posted by Greg | 7:36 AM
5 Comments:
Hands down the worst Super Bowl ever. I will not complain about poor officiating (that has been covered and I concur), but the total lack of anything happening.
Pittsburgh did not deserve to win this game (although the Seahawks surely did not deserve to win either). Pittsburgh had only four good plays: the scramble, throw and catch (which did make Big Ben look far wiser than a second year QB); the contestable touchdown by Ben; one Willy Parker run; and the gadget play. Pittsburgh had only ONE sustained drive which ended in the interception. Two turnovers. And they win?
The Seahawks blew it before half-time and blew it at the end of the game. How do you throw a quick out leaving a good five to ten yards of open field before the sideline and...??? Oh, never mind. It just isn't worth it to rehash any more of the game.
It was a terrible game. It's not that I am upset at all that the Steeler's won (hooray for Jerome Bettis!!), but...
BAH! Worst. Super Bowl. Ever.
Uncle Monster
Yeah, it was close to being the worst. The only thing that mitigates that is that it was competitive for most of it. Some of the blow-outs were worse. The ones where one team was so good it was a pleasure to watch were nice, but the first Eagles Super Bowl (Oakland won, 27-10) might have been worse, because it was a dull game and the Raiders didn't play particularly well.
But you're right - it was pretty bad.
Oh, by the way - you did include Clutch on those CDs you sent me lo those many years ago. Sorry for the oversight. I lost them for a long time and just found them a few days ago, so now I have to listen to it and tell you what I think.
At least I now understand what those "win one for the thumb" comments were all about. That's just ridiculous.
Congratulations to Pittsburgh - I wouldn't personally know, but it must be great when your team wins something big.
But the officiating was dire.
That led directly to the interception by Hasselbeck that led to the game-clinching touchdown. Add 7 points to Seattle.
Well, if that pick led directly to the Steelers' TD, that's actually a 14-point swing, +7 for Seattle and -7 for Pittsburgh.
I didn't think the game was so horrible, mainly because of how close it was for most of the time. It would've been nice if Seattle had played like the game counted at the end of either half, though. The way they ended the first half was an embarrassment.
Good point, Tom. Also, I forgot to mention the penalty on Hasselbeck on the interception return (when he was making a legal tackle) that gave the Steelers the field position to call the trick play. So you're right - +7 and -7.
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