Official Super Bowl XLIII Gameday Thread

[EB]

Not to mention L. Fitzgerald if from St. Paul Mn a Big 10 city. LOL. Remember you can't play if aint from down our way according to most of these SEC lovers.

A bunch of Ohio cats had a good game tonight. If you throw in Harrison and Big Ben.

As someone who grew up mostly in SEC country and a little in Big 10 country, I know that they have good athletes in the midwest.

 

[Bane]

Somebody please tell me why you think they gave this game to Pittsburgh. Send me a list of incidents because Arizona made some dumb penalties in that 3rd qtr but made two great defensive stands on that drive.

Here you go...

It will go down as one of the most thrilling Super Bowls of all time. But, as has become all too common in the NFL, an officiating controversy threatens to overshadow the stellar play on the field.

On the final Cardinals play from scrimmage, as the team was driving for a potential game-winning score, Kurt Warner turned over the ball after his arm was hit by LaMarr Woodley. The play was ruled a fumble, and it may have been. Or it may have been an incomplete pass. The problem is, there was no official replay review to take a closer look at the ruling. Instead, the Steelers got the ball, knelt down for the win and earned the sixth title in franchise history.

Frankly, it's remarkable that there was no booth challenge to review the play. It was certainly close enough to warrant a look from upstairs. In all probability, the call on the field would have been confirmed. But why not appease the masses and nip any talk of controversy in the bud? (If the call had been overturned, Arizona would have had the ball on the Pittsburgh 29-yard line, certainly close enough to have had a reasonable shot at scoring a last-second touchdown.)

It was a night marred by questionable calls, but the game managed to make everyone forget about the disparity in penalties (106 yards for the Cardinals against just 56 for the Steelers) with its thrilling finish. And then came the unreviewed call. It's especially interesting that the play went without a second look considering the Cardinals correctly challenged two plays during the game (both of which should have been easy calls on the field but were botched by the refs).

The 11 penalties whistled on Arizona included a preposterous roughing the passer penalty on a play that wouldn't have been uncommon in touch football. That came on a drive that saw two personal foul penalties on the Cards, one of which gave the Steelers another chance to score from the goal line. For the evening, 18 penalties were called, the third-most in Super Bowl history. A missed call may have proven enormous also. After Santonio Holmes' game-winning touchdown catch he did an imitation of LeBron James' chalk move. Using the ball as a prop is an automatic 15-yard penalty on the kickoff.

Source

 

[s phi s]

After Santonio Holmes' game-winning touchdown catch he did an imitation of LeBron James' chalk move. Using the ball as a prop is an automatic 15-yard penalty on the kickoff.



THAT is the one I think of most when thinking about the penalties last night. That and the roughing the passer call. As soon as he threw the ball in the air, the flag should have been thrown. And the official should have never even REACHED for the flag on that roughing call. Those were the 2 most egregious things I saw. There were other questionable calls, but that's football. But those 2 were BLOWN...

 

[97JSULEGEND]

Here you go...

Man thanks Styles. this game was the same as 2005. too many questionable calls in the Steelers favor. I mean the roughing the passer then the running into the holder. He had momentum and it was not deliberate. I thought they reviewed the final play up top. That was foul for real. I thought the RB was stop and a safety should have been called before the actual holding safety call. Holding by the steelers all game long not called until late in the game. BS If you ask me pure BS.

 

[Dr. Phreeze]

Here you go...

On the final Cardinals play from scrimmage, as the team was driving for a potential game-winning score, Kurt Warner turned over the ball after his arm was hit by LaMarr Woodley. The play was ruled a fumble, and it may have been. Or it may have been an incomplete pass. The problem is, there was no official replay review to take a closer look at the ruling. Instead, the Steelers got the ball, knelt down for the win and earned the sixth title in franchise history.

They reviewed the play for a while before that snap. Kurt fumbled. Now the first one was an incompletion and they got the ball back. That holding penalty in the endzone was some BS. That lineman got ran over and made it look as if he was holding.

The Cardinals hurt themselves by throwing a pick before the half which lead to a 17 - 7 deficit. They should have made the tackle with no time on the clock. Their defense held them twice after those two personal foul penalties which gave Pittsburgh a chance to kick a field goal. Arizona had their chance to stop them on that last Steeler possession but they didn't. They converted on two 3rd down plays. That LeBron move by Holmes should have been called but we don't know what would happened if the ref called it.

 

[Tigerpride]

Just the replay alone showed that Warner fumbled. He was only trying to set up to throw the ball. When it first happened, I thought the refs had made a mistake too but as SOON as they showed the replay, the fumble was obvious.

 

[s phi s]

I don't have much of a gripe with the last fumble, because I believe replay would have upheld it. But I do think they should have stopped play to look at it. I'm on the fence about the running over the holder call. Even though it still ended up with 3 points, it gave the Steelers an extra couple of minutes of possession time.

 

[jag4life]

I don't have much of a gripe with the last fumble, because I believe replay would have upheld it. But I do think they should have stopped play to look at it. I'm on the fence about the running over the holder call. Even though it still ended up with 3 points, it gave the Steelers an extra couple of minutes of possession time.

That was an easy call to make. It is clear in the rules.

 

[JSU/99]

The roughing the passer penalty was kinda touching, but I think the fact that the Defender deliberatly pushed Ben down when he could've easily held up is why they made that call.

The last play was a fumble.

The running over the holder penalty by Wilson was pretty obvious.

Harrison should've been booted from the game late in the 4th on that personal foul.

 

[Dr. Phreeze]

I don't have much of a gripe with the last fumble, because I believe replay would have upheld it. But I do think they should have stopped play to look at it. I'm on the fence about the running over the holder call. Even though it still ended up with 3 points, it gave the Steelers an extra couple of minutes of possession time.

That holder was just as defenseless as the kicker. Why not call it?

 

[Dr. Phreeze]

The roughing the passer penalty was kinda touching, but I think the fact that the Defender deliberatly pushed Ben down when he could've easily held up is why they made that call.

The last play was a fumble.

The running over the holder penalty by Wilson was pretty obvious.

Harrison should've been booted from the game late in the 4th on that personal foul.

I agree.

 

[s phi s]

Well, with that being said, that was probably the dumbest penalty of the night. And I agree that Harrison should have been booted on that personal foul in the 4th. It's like forgot there was a football game going on.

 

[Journalist]

The Refs shole did a good job of keeping Pittsburgh out of the end zone on those two first-and-goal situations...

The Refs shole messed over the Steelers by calling that hold in the end zone that gave Arizona the safety, which set up Fitzgerald's second touchdown and giving the Cardinals the lead with 2:37 left...

The Refs shole didn't allow Arizona's offense to get on track until the fourth quarter.

Y'all need to sit down with that ref cheated mess...now the one with the Steelers/Seahawks, that's a whole nother matter1

For once, the refs didn't cost either team the game. Can't say that about a good portion of the regular season games this season.

:topic: But wasn't the game kinda SWACish?

 

[s phi s]

And that I agree with. While I do think the game was poorly officiated all around, the refs did not decide the game. So I at least feel good about that. But to say that was the best crew in the NFL this season, they missed or blew a LOT of calls.

 

[Bane]

Every time the Steelers play in the SB, the refs forget how to do their damn job.

Here's the real MVP of Super Bowl XLIII

Terry McAulay should be headed to Disney World this morning. He should be the toast of Pittsburgh, a guest on PTI and Jim Rome's Jungle and driving whatever luxury vehicle that is awarded to the Super Bowl's MVP.

McAulay outshined Santonio Holmes, James Harrison, Big Ben Roethlisberger, Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner.

Holmes and Roethlisberger dominated the final drive, connecting four times for 73 yards and a touchdown to win the game.

Fitzgerald and Warner ruled the fourth quarter, erasing a 13-point deficit with two clutch TD connections.

Harrison uncorked one unforgettable play, trucking 100 yards with an interception just before halftime, and sporadically causing Arizona tackle Mike Gandy to illegally use a lasso.

But on a play-to-play, quarter-to-quarter basis, no one influenced the greatest Super Bowl in history more than McAulay and his crew of black-and-gold-wearing, I mean, black-and-white-wearing officials.

For the Cardinals, it was 11-on-17 for much of the evening. Had Bobby Knight been patrolling the Arizona sidelines rather than Ken Whisenhunt, the basketball coaching legend would've gotten teed up in the first quarter and ejected for tossing a chair by the time McAulay flagged Karlos Dansby for roughing Big Ben in the third quarter.

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[Attack Dog]

The officials kept the game close enough for the Cardinals to make it interesting at the end. The League wanted to see another close game like last year and not a blowout.

 

[JSU/99]

Every time the Steelers play in the SB, the refs forget how to do their damn job.

I expect that kind of nonsense from Jason Whitlock. The only egregious mistake IMO is not booting Harrison out of the game. The last play didn't need a review. You can't expect the refs to overlook Wilson running over the holder - every defender is taught to stop short. The 2 calls overturned were close enough to go either way without the benefit of multiple angle replay. And let's not forget all the holding calls they missed on Harrison.

 

[Devil's Gun Trigger Man]

nobody's talking about it, but if you go back and look, Domonique Rogers-Cromartie had 2 int's that he could have made that would have really changed that game even more. This is the Super Bowl, you gotta make both of them picks.That game last night shows you the importance of a run game. If the Cardinals would have had any kind of confidence in a run game, they wouldn't have been throwing that close to the end zone and Harrison would have never had that opportunity. I'm not gone even talk about the roughing the passer and running into the kicker BS.

 

[chrisd]

Big Ben got away with intentional grounding twice on the same drive, and managed to draw a roughing the passer call on one of his intentional groundings. Holmes should have gotten 15 for using the ball as a prop during his end zone celebration (not a rule I agree with, but it's a rule) and Harrison should have been tossed after his personal foul. I'm not saying the refs cost the Cards the game, but they missed a bunch of stuff against Pittsburgh that they should have called.

 

[chrisd]

nobody's talking about it, but if you go back and look, Domonique Rogers-Cromartie had 2 int's that he could have made that would have really changed that game even more. This is the Super Bowl, you gotta make both of them picks.That game last night shows you the importance of a run game. If the Cardinals would have had any kind of confidence in a run game, they wouldn't have been throwing that close to the end zone and Harrison would have never had that opportunity. I'm not gone even talk about the roughing the passer and running into the kicker BS.

The Cards had 18 seconds left in the first half and no timeouts remaining. Can't run the ball in that situation. Warner tried to force the pass, and Harrison made a play. No way should he have been able to make it all the way for a touchdown though. :lol:

 

[jag4life]

Big Ben got away with intentional grounding twice on the same drive, and managed to draw a roughing the passer call on one of his intentional groundings.

The other one he was outside of the tackles... clearly.

 

[Devil's Gun Trigger Man]

The Cards had 18 seconds left in the first half and no timeouts remaining. Can't run the ball in that situation. Warner tried to force the pass, and Harrison made a play. No way should he have been able to make it all the way for a touchdown though. :lol:

I would have tried to run, and if I didn't make it, just line up and spike the ball and kick the field goal.

 

[Dr. Phreeze]

Big Ben got away with intentional grounding twice on the same drive, and managed to draw a roughing the passer call on one of his intentional groundings. Holmes should have gotten 15 for using the ball as a prop during his end zone celebration (not a rule I agree with, but it's a rule) and Harrison should have been tossed after his personal foul. I'm not saying the refs cost the Cards the game, but they missed a bunch of stuff against Pittsburgh that they should have called.

Big Ben was outside of the Tackle Box and threw the pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Therefore, there wasn't a flag thrown. No intentional grounding.

 

[JR]

Every time the Steelers play in the SB, the refs forget how to do their damn job.

Your hate for the Steelers is showing. It aint their fault that Dallas don't have their isht together. LOL.


Answer these questions if you are old enough to remember.

What did the refs do to help the Steelers beat:

The Vikings in their first SB
The Cowboys in their second and third SB wins. I assume the ref caused Jackie Smith to drop that sure TD or caused Swan to catch all those acrobatic grabs against Dallas the first time.

Did the refs help the Steelers beat the Rams? I wonder did those TDs Swann and Stallworth scored were suspect.

The Seahawks. Outside of Ben's knee going down before the goal line......was the ref in on the Randle El to Hines Ward TD play to win the game? Was the ref the one who helped Willie Parker break off the longest SB run by a RB? Was it the ref who got inside that TE of the Seahawks head or was it Joey Porter?


And finally last night. Did the refs make Kurt Warner throw that pick at halftime or tell L. Fitzgerald you got to make sure the guy don't roll over your leg for the TD while you tackle him? Did the ref stop all 3 Cardinals DBs from being able to hold Santonio Holmes when everybody in the building could see he was taking over the game? I mean it is the refs fault for every Steelers SB win.

Come on Styles don't be like that. At least your boys from Michigan (Woodley and Foote) were on the winning side.

 

[Dr. Phreeze]

nobody's talking about it, but if you go back and look, Domonique Rogers-Cromartie had 2 int's that he could have made that would have really changed that game even more. This is the Super Bowl, you gotta make both of them picks.That game last night shows you the importance of a run game. If the Cardinals would have had any kind of confidence in a run game, they wouldn't have been throwing that close to the end zone and Harrison would have never had that opportunity. I'm not gone even talk about the roughing the passer and running into the kicker BS.

Why is running into the holder a BS call phrat?